[At the forefront of chemical technology, Du Zhong from HaiChuan Chemical has successfully developed a light-responsive polyurethane elastic fiber that can be integrated into smart textiles]

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Du Zhong Spandex has successfully developed a light-responsive polyurethane elastic fiber that can be integrated into smart textiles. May 8, 2025 – Recently, Sun Zhenbo and Wang Jianwei, the technical directors of Lianyungang Du Zhong Xino Shenspandex Co., Ltd., leveraging their years of experience in polyurethane material research and development, succeeded in creating a light-responsive polyurethane elastic fiber using existing dry spinning techniques. This new material holds broad application prospects in fields such as smart textiles, biomedicine, and environmental monitoring. The research findings were published in the journal Synthetic Fibers under the title “Preparation and Properties of Light-Responsive Polyurethane Elastic Fibers” (DOI: 10.16090/j.cnki.hcxw.2025.01.004). During the preparation of polyurethane (PU) elastic fibers, researchers incorporated the 1,3,3-trimethylindoline-naphthoquinone (TINS) photoresponsive color-changing material. TINS/PU photoresponsive elastic fibers were produced using existing dry spinning techniques, thereby endowing the PU elastic fibers and the textiles made from them with photoresponsive color-changing properties. Tests have shown that when 0.05‰ by mass of TINS is added, PU elastic fibers can exhibit an extremely fast light-responsive color-changing property ； As the amount of TINS added increased, the light-responsive color change time of the TINS/PU fibers also increased. The light-responsive color change times for PU fibers with 0.05‰, 0.10‰, and 0.20‰ TINS added were approximately 3, 7, and 9 seconds respectively, and the mechanical properties of the fibers remained essentially unaffected. Under natural light, compared to 0.05‰ TINS/PU and 0.10‰ TINS/PU, the overall color of the 0.20‰ TINS/PU silk reels is slightly bluer. When the surface of the silk roll is exposed to 365 nm ultraviolet light for 1 second, its color changes instantly, demonstrating a very rapid photoresponse. Furthermore, as the amount of TINS added increases, the color of the yarn coils deepens gradually; yarn coils with 0.05‰ TINS/PU exhibit a light blue color, those with 0.10‰ TINS/PU show a blue color, and those with 0.20‰ TINS/PU have a blue-purple color.