Novel linen/polyethyleneimine/sodium decadecanate photochromic fabric prepared by layer-by-layer self-assembly method

Photochromic materials have received extensive attention from scientific researchers due to their novel uses. Though the related mechanism research is getting deeper, the current material preparations are complex and expensive. In this paper, we propose prepare a linen/polyethyleneimine/sodium decadecanate photochromic fabric via layer-by-layer self-assembly method. By building an electron transfer photochromic system on linen fabrics, the fabricated fabric not only presents outstanding reversible color-changing properties (quick color-changes speed, apparently color difference) under UV light (365 nm), but also shows excellent delicate patterns and color preservation ability in visible light environment, which endow it with great potential for application in intelligent devices and UV light detectors. Additionally, the advantageous features of good fatigue resistance (more than 15 times), light weight, comfortable feeling, low-cost and non-toxic, allow this material to be a good candidate in many applied fields.