Preparation of afterglow and photochromic fibrous mats from polypropylene plastics to detect ultraviolet lights.

Polypropylene textiles have been used in the development of various industrial products, such as automotives, plastic furniture, and medical tools. However, polypropylene resists dyeing owing to the deficiency of active staining spots. Herein, we develop a new strategy toward new afterglow and photochromic fibers from recycled polypropylene plastics utilizing plasma-supported coloration with rare-earth activated aluminate nanoparticles (REANPs). Plasma-curing was employed to generate active dyeing sites on the polypropylene surface. A thin film of REANPs (2-10 nm) was deposited onto plasma-pretreated polypropylene surface. Various analytical techniques were applied to inspect the morphology of the REANPs-finished polypropylene fibers. The polypropylene dyeing activity was much improved after being exposed to plasma. Both photoluminescence analysis and CIE Lab coordinates proved that the polypropylene fibers exhibit white color in daylight and green in ultraviolet. The afterglow thin layer immobilized onto the polypropylene surface exhibit an emission band of 524 nm upon excitation at 365 nm. The sliding angles dropped from 12° to 9°, but the contacting angles rose from 139.4° to 145.0° when the REANPs ratio was raised. The findings showed that the REANPs-finished polypropylene had good colorfastness, antimicrobial activity, and UV blocking. Both stiffness and permeability to air of REANPs-finished polypropylene was explored to designate excellent comfort characteristics.