Interfacial Polyelectrolyte Complexation Spinning of Cellulose Nanofibers/CdTe Quantum Dots for Anti-counterfeiting Fluorescent Textiles

Cellulose-based fluorescent fibers were successfully fabricated by interfacial polyelectrolyte complexation (IPC) spinning, in which thioglycolic acid-modified CdTe quantum dots (QDs) were incorporated. The fibers exhibited different fluorescent colors depending on different sizes of CdTe QDs. The IPC spinning process based on the progressive self-assembly of negatively charged cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) and positively charged chitosan endowed the fibers high orientation degree. Together with the superior mechanical property of CNFs and the strong interfacial ionic bond and hydrogen bond interaction between CNFs and chitosan, the fluorescent fibers showed a high tensile strength above 689 MPa and toughness above 25 MJ/m(3), which provided a guarantee for weaving the fluorescent fibers into textiles. With excellent optical and mechanical performance, the resulting fluorescent fibers showed a promising potential as flexible wearable anti-counterfeiting devices, which the hard-to-see tag woven using the fluorescent fibers appeared clearly under 365 nm ultraviolet light illumination. This paper would provide a new avenue for the preparation of high-performance environment-friendly fluorescent anti-counterfeiting textiles.