Main description (English)

Colour is an essential component of the design of almost all man-made products. The creation of colour in textiles and surfaces has traditionally been achieved by the addition of pigments and dyes, and in some cases by decolourisation. Some of the pigments, dyes, discolouring agents and auxiliary materials are toxic. Industrial dyeing processes can be harmful to both the people involved and the environment. Colours achieved through dyes are often unsustainable over time, affecting the production and consumption cycles of textile products. Is it possible to achieve colour without pigments and dyes? In nature, many colours are due not to pigments but to the nano- and micro-structuring of the materials. Examples are found in many insects such as butterflies and beetles, plants, iridescent substances such as opals, crystals, pearls, etc. Today, this type of nano- and micro-structures are the basis of a number of practical studies in the field of nano-technology, aiming to create new methods for permanent structural colouring of textiles and surfaces. The idea is to achieve methods for environmentally sustainable colouring by structuring the textile building materials themselves or by nano-structured coatings on textiles. The term “structural colouring” means the creation of a variety of colours and optical effects at a visible level through invisible micro- and nano-structures. Another interesting interpretation of the term “structural colouring” is the creation of an optical effect resembling iridescence by combining pigment coloured elements and visible macro-structures. This type of visual effect comes from techniques such as lenticular printing. Today, 3D printing technology allows for the addition of macro-structures to traditional textiles in order to achieve intriguing aesthetics through eye-catching optical effects. This paper aims, through a review of recent developments for structural colour creation from the nano-level to the macro-level, to analyse functional and aesthetic aspects of the relationship between colour and structure that inspire new ideas and methods for textile and surface design.