Bio-inspired colouration on various textile materials using a novel catechol colorant

Bio-inspired by the adhesive properties of marine mussels, a novel method was developed for colouration on various kinds of textile materials. Through the introduction of a catechol group as an adhesive 'anchor' into commercially available colorants, various textile materials were easily coloured at room temperature via a simple dip-coating procedure. The UV-visible results indicated that the introduction of the catechol group did not obviously change the absorption of the parent colorants. The coloured fabrics were evaluated by colorimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, optical microscopic analysis and colouration fastness tests. Compared to the control colouration, the obtained results showed that this novel method gave textile materials a better colouration, which was verified by the obviously deeper colour appearance and higher K/S values. This colouration method was especially suitable for those textile materials difficult to be coloured by traditional methods, such as polylactic acid and polypropylene. Compared to traditional methods, this method was more environmentally friendly due to reduced energy consumption and colouration auxiliaries needed. It is an innovative direction of colouration on textile materials.Institute of Textiles and Clothin