Tunable Color Coating of E-Textiles by Atomic Layer Deposition of Multilayer TiO₂/Al₂O₃ Films

Abstract

We successfully fabricated a conductive E-textile and color-coated E-textile by depositing multilayer Al₂O₃/TiO₂ on a conductive E-textile through atomic layer deposition (ALD). Pt was deposited on an E-textile as a conductive layer via low-temperature ALD. The color of the coated conductive E-textile could be tuned to violet, green, or pink by simply varying the thickness of the Al₂O₃ and TiO₂ layers. Both experimental and simulation results revealed that seven different colors can be obtained with single-layer TiO₂ and multilayer Al₂O₃/TiO₂, depending on the film thickness and their refractive indices. This method is highly effective for enhancing the fastness of structural color on conductive E-textiles. Furthermore, the mechanical properties and chemical stability of the color-coated E-textiles were investigated. The color-coated E-textiles could withstand acidic and basic solutions, with almost negligible changes in their morphology; this in turn indicates their excellent chemical stability. These switchable stable color-based conductive E-textiles can be used as a platform to directly integrate future wearable electronics in textiles.