Recently, the team of academician Xu Weilin from the State Key Laboratory of Textile New Materials and Advanced Processing Technology, jointly established by Wuhan Textile University and relevant ministries, published a research-oriented academic paper titled Color construction of multi-colored carbon fibers using glucose in the international top-tier journal, a sub-journal of the Nature Communications series. In this research, Academician Xu Weilin proposed for the first time a method to synthesize nano-sized carbon spheres on the surface of carbon fibers based on an in-situ self-growth strategy using glucose as the carbon source, achieving the construction of multi-colored structural colors in carbon fiber fabrics. The first and corresponding author of the paper is Dr. Zhou Sijie, a doctoral student trained in the State Key Laboratory, while Academician Xu Weilin and Dr. Xia Liangjun are the corresponding authors.
Carbon fibers are widely used in aerospace, national defense, and automotive industries due to their excellent performance. However, the high crystallinity, chemical inertness, and black appearance of carbon fibers make it difficult to achieve color construction using conventional chemical methods, limiting their application areas. Nature provides great inspiration for artificial structural design based on structural coloring mechanisms, reducing the dependence of fiber color construction on chemical dyeing.
Inspired by the angle-independent structural colors of the green peacock feather in nature, Academician Xu Weilin's team proposed a method to construct colored carbon fibers by in-situ self-growth of disordered nano-spheres on the surface of carbon fibers. By using glucose as the carbon source, nano-sized carbon spheres with strong interface adhesion were constructed on the surface of carbon fibers in a one-step process. Based on the Mie scattering theory of nano-spheres, the average particle size of the nano-spheres growing on the carbon fiber surface was controlled by adjusting the precursor solution, achieving the construction of multi-colored structural colors in carbon fibers. Through finite-difference time-domain simulations and calculations, the team studied the relationship between the disordered distribution of nano-spheres and the structural colors of carbon fibers, further elucidating the correspondence between the average particle size of the nano-spheres and different colors. By weaving colored carbon fiber bundles, colored carbon fiber fabrics were produced, aiming to provide theoretical support for the low-cost large-scale production of colored carbon fiber fabrics with excellent color stability.
The research team extends special thanks to Professor Chen Fengxiang of the State Key Laboratory for laying a solid foundation in the field of structural colors. They also express gratitude to the 22nd cohort of graduate students, Wang Xinyu, Su Lingling, and Guo Jianhong, for their support and assistance.
