Immobilization of strontium aluminate nanoparticles onto plasma-pretreated nonwoven polypropylene fibers by screen-printing toward photochromic textiles

Polypropylene fibers have been applied in various fields, such as automotives, plastic furniture, medical devices, and food packaging. Polypropylene fibers are characterized by low-cost, high flexural and impact strength, as well as high resistant to chemicals, moisture, fade, electricity and fatigue. However, polypropylene fiber is inherently resistant to stain because they have no active dyeing sites on their surface. Therefore, it has been impossible to dye polypropylene fibers after extrusion. In the current study, we introduce a novel strategy toward the production of photoluminescent nonwoven polypropylene fabrics by plasma-assisted screen-printing with rare-earth doped strontium aluminate nanoparticles. Aqueous-based phosphor-binder printing paste was applied directly onto nonwoven polypropylene textiles. The superhydrophobic properties of the phosphor-printed nonwoven polypropylene textile substrates were enhanced with increasing the phosphor ratio in the printing paste. Both of ultraviolet protection and antibacterial activity of the phosphor-printed nonwoven polypropylene fabrics were also considered. The produced colorless photoluminescent layer displayed an emission band at 515 nm after being excited at 371 nm. The phosphor-printed fabrics exhibited various colorimetric shades, including off-white beneath daylight and green beneath ultraviolet lamp, as proved by photoluminescence spectra and CIE Lab properties. The comfortability was inspected by testing both of air-permeability and bend length to indicate good flexibility and breathability. The phosphor nanoparticles were studied for their morphological properties to display diameters of 4–9 nm. The spectroscopic findings of the phosphor-printed nonwoven polypropylene were explored. The colorfastness was studied to indicate high durability. The phosphor-printed fabrics showed good reversibility and fatigue-resistance.