Optical properties of cotton and nylon fabrics coated with silica photonic crystals

In this work, colourant-free coloured fabrics have been produced by the self-assembly of silica nanoparticles (SNPs) using a natural sedimentation method. The optical properties of the SNP-coated fabrics were investigated and the spectral reflectance, chromaticity coordinates, and CIE L* a* b* values are reported. The overall colour effect on the fabric can be described by Bragg’s diffraction of the ordered SNP photonic crystal and the Mie scattering of the disordered SNP arrangement. It was found that the structural colour on the tight black woven cotton fabric was more uniform than that from the loose black knitted nylon fabric. Although the structural colour was not easily perceived on a white fabric due to the strong reflection of the white background, the SEM images show that an ordered photonic crystal was formed on the fabric and a small colour difference by the introduction of SNPs was measured using instrumental colour measurement.