Colorful graphene-based wearable e-textiles prepared by co-dyeing cotton fabrics with natural dyes and reduced graphene oxide.

In addition to the functionality of electronic textiles (e-textiles), their aesthetic properties should be considered to expand their marketability. In this study, premordanted cotton fabrics were co-dyed with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and natural dyes to develop ecofriendly and colorful graphene-based wearable e-textiles. The color attributes of the textiles were analyzed in terms of the dyeing conditions, namely, rGO loading, mordant type, and natural dye type. The lightness of the dyed samples increased in the order of cochineal < gardenia blue < rhubarb. Regardless of the natural dye and rGO loading, the lightness of the fabrics mordanted with Fe was lower than that with Al and Cu. Moreover, the rhubarb- and gardenia blue-dyed fabrics exhibited broad chroma and hue dispersions, indicating the strong impact of the dyeing conditions. With increasing rGO loading, the chroma of the rhubarb-dyed fabrics substantially decreased, resulting in decreased color saturation. The initial greenish-blue color of the gardenia blue-dyed fabrics gradually changed to yellowish-green and then yellow. Regardless of the natural dye, drastic overall color changes were observed, with average values of 7.60, 11.14, 12.68, and 13.56 ΔECMC(2:1) at increasing rGO loadings of 1, 3, 5, and 7% owb, respectively.

Effects of household water-repellent agents and number of coating layers on the physical properties of cotton woven fabrics.

The increased interest in outdoor activities has prompted the demand for water-repellent fabrics that can withstand various environmental factors. In this study, the water repellency and physical properties, namely thickness, weight, tensile strength, elongation, and stiffness, of cotton woven fabrics were analyzed according to various treatments with different types of household water-repellent agents and number of coating layers. Fluorine-, silicone-, and wax-based water-repellent agents were coated on cotton woven fabrics once, thrice, and five times. Thickness, weight, and stiffness increased with the number of coating layers, which may reduce comfort. These properties increased minimally for the fluorine- and silicone-based water-repellent agents, whereas they considerably increased for the wax-based water-repellent agent. The fluorine-based water-repellent agent had a low water repellency rating of 2.2 even after five coating layers, and the silicone-based water-repellent agent had a higher rating of 3.4 with the same five coating layers. Meanwhile, the wax-based water-repellent agent had the highest water repellency rating of 5 even with only one coating layer, which was maintained with repeated coatings. Therefore, fluorine- and silicone-based water-repellent agents minimally altered the fabric properties even with repeated coatings; multiple coating layers, especially five or more layers for the fluorine-based water-repellent agent, are recommended to attain excellent water repellency. Conversely, one coating layer of the wax-based water-repellent agent is recommended to retain the comfort of the wearer.

A spectral reflectance-based approach for formulating color mixing recipes for single- and multi-layered woven structures.

The color of yarn dyed woven fabrics comes from a series of different colored yarns mixed in complex ways and various proportions. Thus, predicting the color mixing effect or formulating the recipe is a difficult task which should consider the interaction between colored yarns and structure variations. Color mixing recipes, which are also called color prediction models, for woven fabrics have generally been derived through the two-dimensional modeling of woven structures. In this study, the three-dimensional geometrical and colorimetrical modelings of single-, double-, and three-layered woven fabrics in a wide range of colors were conducted to obtain two types of optimal spectral reflectance-based color prediction models. Through model evaluations, the obtained three-dimensional color prediction models were proved to have much higher predictive accuracy, especially in terms of lightness and chroma predictions, than that of the two-dimensional color prediction models previously developed.

Color appearance shifts depending on surface roughness, illuminants, and physical colors.

Texture is an important synesthetic design element used in textile products. The three-dimensional surface of texture changes the amount and angle of reflected light causing a color appearance change from its original color. In this work, for a wide range of colors, it was quantitatively analyzed how the color appearances change depending on different textures and illumination, such as CIE standard illuminants A, F11, F2, and D65. It was found that strong-textured fabrics (with a surface roughness Ra of 0.46 mm) had larger hue appearance changes and consequent overall color appearance changes from their true colors due to illuminants than non-textured papers (with a surface roughness Ra of 0.03 mm). Between two types of fabrics with different textures of 0.21 and 0.46 mm, however, there was no significant difference in the magnitude of color appearance changes, indicating that the difference in surface roughness greater than 0.43 mm can produce significant differences in color appearance changes induced by illumination. It was also found that the magnitude and direction of color appearance changes under different CIE illuminants differed significantly according to the physical chroma and hue of the surface.

Experimental method for measuring color appearance shifts in high-dynamic-range luminance conditions.

We present an experimental method to determine color appearance shifts under high-dynamic-range conditions. A couple of light booths with variable luminance provide high-dynamic-range luminance conditions, and a perceptual color shift between the two booths is determined using color appearance matching. For red, green, yellow, and blue groups of four surface color samples, color shifts were measured for nine subjects under a dual illumination at background luminance levels of $100\,\,{{\rm cd/m}^2}$100cd/m2 and $4700\,\,{{\rm cd/m}^2}$4700cd/m2. We observed significant perceptual hue shifts toward blue with magnitudes of 2.5 to 3.9 and 5.0 to 6.9 CIELAB units, for the red and green samples, respectively, and decreases in chroma for most samples when changed from low to high luminances.

A highly crystalline manganese-doped iron oxide nanocontainer with predesigned void volume and shape for theranostic applications.

Hollow Mn-doped iron oxide nanocontainers, formed by a novel one-pot synthetic process, fulfill the dual requirements of delivering an effective dose of an anticancer drug to tumor tissue and enabling image-contrast monitoring of the nanocontainer fate through T2 -weighted magnetic resonance imaging, thereby determining the optimal balance between diagnostic and therapeutic moieties in an all-in-one theranostic nanoplatform.

Fabrication of hierarchical Rh nanostructures by understanding the growth kinetics of facet-controlled Rh nanocrystals.

By understanding the structural relationship among three shape-controlled Rh nanostructures, namely, {111} nanotetrahedrons, {111} tetrahedral nanoframes, and <111> skeletal nanotetrapods, we could prepare novel hierarchical dendritic Rh nanostructures with <111> Rh arms as linkers between tetrahedral shaped nanocrystals.

Inhibition of pentylenetetrazole-induced seizure in mice by using a 4 Hz magnetic field: a comparative study with a 60 Hz magnetic field.

We investigated the comparative effects of 4 and 60 Hz magnetic fields on pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced seizure in mice. For this study, we measured the latent time to seizure, seizure duration, and lethality induced by PTZ in mice exposed to 4 and 60 Hz magnetic fields (MF) for 30 min. Compared to sham-exposed controls, the latent time to tail twitching and seizure in the 4 Hz MF group was significantly decreased while the latent time to seizure in the 60 Hz MF group was significantly increased. The seizure duration in the 4 Hz MF group was significantly decreased while that in the 60 Hz MF group was significantly increased. More importantly, while the mice exposed to a 60 Hz MF experienced significantly increased lethality after seizure convulsion, those exposed to a 4 Hz MF showed no lethality, with a shortening of the duration of seizure. This beneficial effect of a 4 Hz MF on seizure has the same implication as the anti-oxidative effects of a 4 Hz MF observed in our previous work. The results of our current and previous works indicate that a 4 Hz MF may be used as a therapeutic physical agent for the treatment of oxidative stress-induced diseases, including seizure, with or without chemical drugs.