Color Changes in Some UV Irradiated Polymer Nanocomposite Materials for the Application in Textile Industry

Four nanocomposites (NCPs), e.g., polyaniline-copper/polymethyl methacrylate (PANI-Cu/PMMA), polyaniline-copper/cellulose triacetate (PANI-Cu/CTA), polyaniline-copper/polycarbonate (PANI-Cu/PC), and polyaniline-copper/polycarbonate-polyester (PANI-Cu/PC-PBT) were fabricated using both chemical oxidation and casting techniques. The morphology of the prepared NCPs was studied using scanning electron microscopy. The induced alterations in the color of the synthesized NCPs owing to UV irradiation, within fluences 25-120 J/cm(2), have been illustrated via UV spectroscopy and CIE color divergence methodology. The color variation between the pristine and irradiated NCP samples (color intensity, Delta E) has been computed for the four NCPs. The results show that, upon UV irradiation up to 120 J/cm(2), the values of Delta E for the PANI-Cu/PMMA NCP samples achieved a major color difference which is an acceptable match in commercial reproduction on printing presses since Delta E reached the value of 35.8. The value of Delta E for the PANI-Cu/CTA NCP samples reached 23.8 that also indicates a significant color difference. It is worth mentioning that the PANI-Cu/PC-PBT shows a minimum color difference since Delta E exhibited variation up to 7. This means that the PANI-Cu/PC-PBT NCP samples have higher resistance to color changes against UV radiation. Thus, this NCP may be a suitable candidate in textile industry.