An alternative to textile dyes: Synthesizing and applying PMMA nanoparticles to create structural coloration

Synthetic textile dyes are one of the most significant contributors to global pollution, releasing toxic wastewater and lowering dissolved oxygen levels in bodies of water near textile factories. A solution is to develop structural coloration onto textiles, which depends solely on the shape of an object and does not contain any hazardous chemical components that might enter wastewater. We colorized textiles by synthesizing and spray-coating nanospheres that create structural color on fabrics. We hypothesized that various structural colors of polymethyl methacrylate nanospheres (PMMA) can be produced. PMMA nanospheres have not been explored in their ability to reflect color but would be a less toxic alternative to researched materials such as poly(styrene-methyl methacrylate-acrylic acid). We synthesized PMMA nanospheres by stirring distilled water, methyl methacrylate, and 2,2’-Azobis(2-methylpropionamidine dihydrochloride) initiator under an inert atmosphere. The optimal method of preparing and spray-coating the PMMA involved centrifugation, mixing a 100:1 ratio of PMMA/water solution and carbon black, and then spray-coating the resulting PMMA particles onto fabric in five layers. The PMMA particles showed high durability on the fabric. By changing the amounts of distilled water, methyl methacrylate, and initiator, the resulting colors included red-violet, violet, blue, turquoise, green, and yellow-green. We successfully produced structural coloration by synthesizing and applying nanospheres in various colors to fabrics and optimized the method of applying nanospheres onto fabric for the most saturated color. In addition, we also synthesized a potentially more sustainable alternative to PMMA as it is biodegradable. Our results suggest that structural coloration with PMMA particles is a promising non-polluting alternative to dyes for the future.