Development of a robust method for the dynamic colour measurement of thermochromic textiles

Thermochromic colorants have high potential in textile applications due to their ability to create dynamic patterns as well as functioning as a safety feature. To gain an improved understanding of the fastness and colour change properties of these colorants when applied to textiles, a rapid, accurate and easily reproducible colour measurement methodology is required. In this paper, we report the development of such a methodology which allows for the dynamic colour measurement of temperature dependent colorants. Our method employs a custom designed heat conducting platform linked to a heating/cooling water circulator in conjunction with a hand-held spectrophotometer. The development of the methodology is reported, including the study of sample conditioning, temperature variation and thermal transfer. Finally, the methodology was validated by quantifying the colorimetric values of thermochromic colorants and the well documented colour hysteresis effect.