Development of White Light-Emitting Textiles Using Inorganic Phosphor-Loaded Photopolymers for Potential Lighting Applications

Abstract

The development of flexible textile-based lighting systems remains challenging, usually requiring the combination of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with polymer optical fibers to achieve larger emission areas. However, the overall emission remains point-based, leading to possible glare issues and shadowed zones. In this context, the present work proposes the development of light-emitting textiles that uniformly distribute white light when excited by a blue LED source. Simple cotton substrates were coated with a flexible photoluminescent phosphor-loaded polymer composite. The yellow and/or red phosphors were efficiently incorporated into the polymer matrix via a fast and easy-to-implement UV-induced polymerization reaction, conducted in air and in the absence of any toxic organic solvents. Under blue light, the yellow phosphor-coated textile produced cold white light, but the color temperature was easily tuned to warmer nuances by adjusting the amount of red-emitting phosphor, with high color rendering index (>70) and luminance values over 500 cd/m². Stability and structural measurements were then carried out to assess possible scale-up options. The versatility of the polymer matrix also expanded the possible applications to 2D surface functionalization and 3D printing.