Structural-coloured poly(styrene-methyl methacrylate-acrylic acid) (Poly(St-MMA-AA)) deposited carbon fabrics (Poly(St-MMA-AA)/PCFs) with fascinating colours (salmon, chartreuse, springgreen, skyblue, mediumpurple) changing with the (Poly(St-MMA-AA) nanoparticle sizes can be facilely fabricated by the thermal-assisted gravity sedimentation method that facilitates the self-assembly of Poly(St-MMA-AA) colloidal nanoparticles to generate photonic crystals. The particle sizes of Poly(St-MMA-AA) copolymer with core/shell structure varying from 308.3 nm to 213.1 nm were controlled by adjusting the amount of emulsifier during emulsion polymerisation. The presence of the intrinsic chemical information of Poly(St-MMA-AA) copolymer has been ascertained by Raman and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy analysis. Colour variation of the as-prepared structural-coloured carbon fabrics (Poly(St-MMA-AA)/PCFs) before and after dipping treatment were captured while using an optical microscope. The structural colours of Poly(St-MMA-AA)/PCFs were assessed by calculating the diffraction bandgap according to Bragg's and Snell's laws. The Poly(St-MMA-AA) photonic crystal films altered the electrical properties of carbon fabrics with the resistivity growing by five orders of magnitude. The differential electrical resistivity between Poly(St-MMA-AA)/PCFs and wet Poly(St-MMA-AA)/PCFs combined with the corresponding tunable colours can be potentially applied in several promising areas, such as smart displays, especially signal warning displays for traffic safety.
Keywords: carbon fabric; gravity sedimentation; photonic crystal; structural colour.