Study of chameleon nylon and polyester fabrics using photochromic ink

There is a growing interest in the development of chameleon textiles using chromic dyes (inks) for several uses, such as brand protection, responsive camouflage, ultraviolet (UV) sensors, and fashion apparel. However, their use is limited to very few colors and responsivity to color change in the spectral range. This investigation used two photochromic inks: magenta and turquoise. These inks change color when exposed to certain wavelengths of light. The magenta and turquoise photochromic inks belong to the naphthopyran and spironaphthoxazine classifications of dye, respectively. These plastisol inks were applied on the nylon and polyester fabrics using a screen-printing technique. The color-changing behavior of the printed fabrics was studied using a Hunter Lab Color Spectrophotometer after exposure to tungsten, fluorescent, UV, and sunlight. Each sample was subjected to five fade cycles to study the fading effects. The effects on the color changes of the magenta ink-printed fabrics were most intense under UV and sunlight, creating strong red colors with an increase in a-values, but only a small change in color was observed under fluorescent light. Turquoise ink-printed fabric exhibited very minor visible changes under UV and sunlight with a decrease in b-value. No significant effect on color changes and color strength was found after five fade cycles.