Comparison of the photochromic behaviour of dyes in solution and on polyester fabric applied by supercritical carbon dioxide

Photochromic textiles are of considerable interest for smart and functional textile applications due to their remarkable dynamic colour changing effect when irradiated with light of a certain wavelength. The use of resource efficient processes, such as digital inkjet printing and supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂) dyeing techniques enables an economic production of those high-end functional products with high material costs. In this study, photochromic polyester fabric has been prepared by applying two commercially important photochromic dyes from spirooxazine (SO) and naphthopyran (NP) dye classes using scCO₂-dyeing technique. The properties of scCO₂ dyed photochromic fabrics were compared with the properties of the same dyes in a non-polar solvent, hexane. UV-Vis spectroscopy and a specially designed online colour measurement system capable of simultaneous UV irradiation and colour measurement were used to evaluate the photochromic colour behaviour. Both photochromic dye types embedded in textile as well as in solution showed significant reversible colour changing properties when exposed to UV light and revert to their original non-coloured form when the UV light is removed. The scCO₂ dyed polyester fabrics exhibited similar trends of colour build-up as in solution, while contrasting behaviour was observed in terms of colour changing rates compared to their behaviour in solution.