Fatigue resistant photochromic materials for textile applications
Today sustainability is a key factor in our ability to continue to maintain our prosperity at a high level over the long term.In addition to sustainable energy generation, sustainable energy use and efficient transport, this also means a balanced diet and balanced clothing.
In the field of textiles, we aim with this project to use photochromic dyes to create competitive products with long-term stability that demonstrate high levels of sustainability. Textiles and coatings of this type are not only suited to be used for fashion purposes on clothing but more so as protection from intensive exposure to sunlight.
- Medicine: prevention of irreversible skin damage
- Energy sector/automotive industry: savings to be made by introducing sunprotection systems for buildings and vehicles, enabling the demands made on air-conditioning systems and other cooling systems to be reduced
- Agriculture: protection from the sun for the effective production of foodstuffs (particularly in hot countries)
Description of the innovative content
This project combines the known properties of photochromic spiro compounds(fast intensive colour change when subjected to UV rays) with more recent findings about host-guest compounds [the use of microporous particles and nanoparticles (SiO2, Al2O3) to increase reversibility]. The use of such host-guest particles in textilesrequires the combinationof polymers established for this.Fundamental questions about the dispersability and light stability of the polymer matrix and its weather resistance and similar crucial questions relevant to its application play an important role in this.
Project goal
Manufacture of photochromic spinnable materials on the basis ofspiro-photo centres and inorganic glass granules embedded in polymer matrices.
2 products provide the basis for this:
- Host-guest compounds with sufficiently high reversibility in the forward and reverse reactions
- Polymer textiles with silver halide as the photochromic principle for use in intelligent shading of buildings, for example.
Realising these two products marks a new green technology in Thuringia.