Colored Apparel - Relevance to Attraction in Humans

There are numerous different dyes available, many varied fashion trends, and various different ways to change/enhance physical aesthetics. Predicting color preferences and how colors and color combinations, in a shape context, stimulate certain emotions, represents a challenging prospect. Color is a critical cue for sexual signaling, but what the preferred colors actually are in humans, is difficult to predict. Understanding color preferences and perception of color within a context such as attraction, is essential for improving color forecasting and gaining a deeper understanding of color perception. The appearance of color can change based on lighting, shape, texture, and the surrounding environment and associated colors. While these provide physical color characteristics, human vision and perception contributes to how a color appears to the individual. Perception is unique to each individual and is constantly changing due to the influence of a range of variables. This can cause someone to appear visually attractive or visually unattractive. By taking into account all the variables that contribute to human studies in color perception, tailored research can continue to be undertaken to further develop a deeper understanding of color perception and human attraction regarding visual stimulation

New water-based copolymer nanoparticles and their use as eco-friendly binders for industry of flexographic ink, part I

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to prepare, characterise and evaluate nano-emulsions of copolymers of various compositions as eco-friendly binders for flexographic ink industry. Design/methodology/approach: Various nano-emulsions of copolymers were prepared using styrene (St), butyl acrylate (BuAc), acrylic acid (AA) and acrylamide (AAm) monomers by means of a conventional seeded emulsion polymerisation technique, using K2S2O8 as the initiator. The characterisation of the prepared emulsions was performed using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). A selection of copolymers was formulated with pigments and additional ingredients, as water-based flexographic inks. The inks were characterised for their viscosity, pH, degree of dispersion, water resistance and colour density. Findings: It was found that the low viscosity of the prepared copolymers may reduce the film thickness of the flexographic inks and may also increase the spreading of the ink on the surface. As a result, stable modified polyacrylate-based latex with improved physico-mechanical properties were obtained. The prepared latexes were showed improving and enhancing in water resistance; gloss values, and the print density that ranged from 2.06 to 2.51 and the maximum gloss values (39 and 48) were also obtained. Also, these binders provide excellent adhesion properties for both the pigment particles and the base paper. Practical implications: This study focuses on the preparation of new water-based copolymer nanoparticles and their use as eco-friendly binders for flexographic ink industry. Social implications: The ink formulations developed could find use in industrial-scale printing. Originality/value: Eco-friendly environment ink formulations for printing on paper substrates are novel

Determining the mechanism and efficiency of industrial dye adsorption through facile structural control of organo-montmorillonite adsorbents

The structural evolution of cost-effective organo-clays (montmorillonite modified with different loadings of CTAB (cetyltrimethylammonium bromide)) is investigated and linked to the adsorption uptake and mechanism of an important industrial dye (hydrolyzed Remazol Black B). Key organo-clay characteristics, such as the intergallery spacing and the average number of well-stacked layers per clay stack are determined by low-angle X-ray diffraction (XRD), while differential thermo-gravimetric analysis (DTGA) is used to differentiate between surface-bound and intercalated CTAB. Insights into the dye adsorption mechanism are gained through the study of the adsorption kinetics and through the characterization of the organo-clay structure and surface charge after dye adsorption. It is shown that efficient adsorption of anionic industrial dyes is driven by three key parameters: (i) sufficiently large intergallery spacing to enable accommodation of the relatively large dye molecules, (ii) crystalline disorder in the stacking direction of the clay platelets to facilitate dye access, (iii) and positive surface charge to promote interaction with the anionic dyes. Specifically, it is shown that at low modifier loadings (0.5 cation exchange capacity (0.5CEC)), CTAB molecules exclusively intercalate as a monolayer into the clay intergallery spaces, while with increasing modifier loadings, the CTAB molecules adopt a bilayer arrangement and adsorb onto the exterior clay surface. Bilayer intercalation results in sufficiently large expansion of the intergallery spaces and significant disordering along the (001) stacking direction to enable high and relatively fast dye uptake via intra-particle diffusion. Poor and slow dye uptake is observed for the organo-clays with monolayer structure, suggesting relatively inefficient dye adsorption at the clay edges. The optimized bilayer organo-clays (montmorillonite modified with 3CEC of CTAB) also show enhanced adsorption efficiencies for other important industrial dyes, highlighting the importance of structural control in organo-clays while also showing the adsorbents’ great potential for use in industry where dye mixtures are encountered

New modified poly(ester amide) resins and their uses as a binder for surface coating with different applications

This paper aims to prepare a new modified poly(ester amide) (PEA) resins and use it as a binder for anticorrosive and antimicrobial coatings. Design/methodology/approach New modified PEA compositions were prepared based on 4-amino-N, N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl) benzamide (AHEB) as the ingredient source of the polyol used and evaluated as vehicles for surface coating. The structure of the modifier and PEA resin was confirmed by FT-IR, H¹-NMR, MW, thermogravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscope studies. Coatings of 50±5 µm thickness were applied to the surface of glass panels and mild steel strips by means of a brush. The coating performance of the resins was evaluated using international standard test methods and involved the measurement of phyisco-mechanical properties and chemical resistance. Findings The tests carried out revealed that the modified PEA based on AHEB enhanced both phyisco-mechanical and chemical properties. Also, the resins were incorporated within primer formulations and evaluated as anti-corrosive and antimicrobial single coatings. The results illustrate that the introduction of AHEB, within the resin structure, improved the film performance and enhances the corrosion resistance and antimicrobial activity performance of PEA resins. Practical implications The modified PEA compounds can be used as binders in paint formulations to improve the chemical, physical, corrosion resistance and antimicrobial activity properties. Originality/value Modified PEA resins are cheaper and can be used to replace other more expensive binders. These modified PEA resins can compensate successfully for the presence of many the anticorrosive and antimicrobial paint formulations, and thus, lower the costs. The main advantage of these binders is that they combine the properties of both polyester and polyamide resins based on nitrogenous compound, are of lower cost and they also overcome the disadvantages of both its counterparts. Also, they can be applied in other industrial applications

Dye conjugation to linseed oil by highly-effective thiol-ene coupling and subsequent esterification reactions

Linseed oil, a renewable material obtained from the ripened seeds of the flax plant, was conjugated with C. I. Disperse Red 1 to yield a coloured macromolecule in two experimentally-simplistic coupling steps. Firstly, the abundant presence of carbon-carbon double bonds in linseed oil was exploited to introduce carboxylic acid functionality to linseed oil via a thiol-ene reaction between linseed oil and 3-mercaptopropionic acid. C. I. Disperse Red 1 was then grafted to the carboxylic acid units now present via esterification, offering a coloured product in high yields. On average, 39.1% of the carbon-carbon double bonds in each linseed oil molecule were furnished with a C. I. Disperse Red 1 molecule. The remaining carbon-carbon double bonds may therefore be further exploited for chemical crosslinking, ensuring that the product formed is of potential significance as a coloured, bio-based, surface coating product

The formation of biodegradable micelles from a therapeutic initiator for enzyme-mediated drug delivery.

The direct grafting of amphiphilic macromolecules by sequential n-carboxyanhydride ring-opening polymerisation (NCA ROP) from a therapeutic initiator enables the formation of monodisperse drug-containing micelles. The subsequent enzyme-mediated hydrolysis of the peptide component permits the programmed release of the encapsulated drug molecules, demonstrating a controlled drug delivery platform that negates any challenging payload loading procedures

A bifunctional smart material: the synthesis of a metal-free black pigment for optoelectronic applications from an organic semiconducting molecular rod

Purpose: This paper aims to synthesise and evaluate the properties of a novel smart material consisting of a metal-free organic black pigment with a unique chromophore for bifunctional applications in optoelectronics. Design/methodology/approach: A robust and highly efficient organic reaction, namely, a double [2 + 2] cycloaddition, was deployed to transform a rod-like structure for charge-transfer applications to a strongly conjugated light-absorbing molecule for both optical and electronic applications. Findings: The synthesis and characterisation of an air-stable metal-free black pigment is reported, which contains an unconventional donor–acceptor panchromatic chromophore with an absorption window spanning 600 nm; the compound was synthetically converted from an organic semiconducting molecular rod and retains strong charge-transfer properties. The chromophore comprises tetracyanoquinodimethane adduct on either side of a dithienothiophenyl core, capped with hexyl thiophenes that ensure solubility in common organic solvents. Its propensity to form excellent thin films on different substrates such as glass and paper, with a total opacity in organic solvent, gives it the potential for wide-ranging applications in organic optoelectronics. Research limitations/implications: The synthetic chemistry and fundamental properties are investigated in the present study, with more detailed treatments and analysis to be soon developed. One leading smart material is presented, with further derivatives under investigation. Practical implications: The work presented shows the possibility of converting structures from one application to another with relative ease, but how they retain properties for both, using well-known and facile conditions. Originality/value: The structures are novel and an enhanced air-stable organic panchromatic chromophore is reported for processing in common organic solvents

At least four distinct blue cationic phthalocyanine dyes sold as “alcian blue” raises the question: what is alcian blue?

We investigated physicochemical characteristics of dye lots sold as “alcian blue” using the Biological Stain Commission (BSC) precipitation test, differential scanning calorimetry, high performance liquid chromatography, thin layer chromatography and UV/visible spectroscopy. Four blue phthalocyanine dyes were detected in 11 commercial dye lots. These four included the original ingrain blue 1 CI 74000 dye and the dye sold with the name “alcian blue pyridine variant”; we discuss also the possible identity of the additional two dyes. A proposed extension to the BSC analytic scheme is presented that could distinguish three categories of commercial alcian blue dyes from each other and from the original alcian blue 8G

Colour photography Past, present & future

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