Structurally-Colored Filaments and Methods for Making and Using Structurally-Colored Filaments

Abstract

The present disclosure are directed to objects having an optical element that imparts structural color.

The clauses are: 
     
         1 . An article, comprising a SC filament having a plurality of optical elements and the fragments thereof randomly distributed throughout the SC filament, wherein the plurality of optical elements and the fragments thereof impart an optical effect to the filament, wherein the article is an article of footwear, an article of apparel, or an article of sporting equipment. 
     
     
         2 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the optical effect is a structural color and is not iridescent or metallic. 
     
     
         3 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the optical effect is an iridescent appearance. 
     
     
         4 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the optical effect is a metallic appearance. 
     
     
         5 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the optical element and the fragments thereof are a layered structure that has two or more layers stacked in a z-dimension perpendicular to the plane of the layered structures. 
     
     
         6 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of optical elements and the fragments thereof dispersed in the SC filament has, individually, an average width and an average length of about 400 nanometers or more, and wherein the plurality of dispersed optical elements and the fragments thereof in the filament has an average thickness of about 200 nanometers or more. 
     
     
         7 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of optical elements and the fragments thereof make up at least 1 percent by weight of a total weight of the filament. 
     
     
         8 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of the optical elements and the fragments thereof on the SC filament covers at least 25 percent of a total surface area of the filament. 
     
     
         9 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the optical effect imparted to the filament is visible to a viewer having 20/20 visual acuity and normal color vision from a distance of about 1 meter from the article. 
     
     
         10 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the structurally colored thermoplastic material comprises at least one thermoplastic polymer. 
     
     
         11 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the optical element is single layer reflector, a single layer filter, a multilayer reflector or a multilayer filter. 
     
     
         12 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the multilayer reflector has at least two layers, including at least two adjacent layers having different refractive indices. 
     
     
         13 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the layers of the multilayer reflector comprises a material selected from the group consisting of: silicon dioxide, titanium dioxide, zinc sulfide, magnesium fluoride, tantalum pentoxide, and a combination thereof. 
     
     
         14 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the optical effect imparts two or more different hues to the article when the article is viewed from at least two different angles 15 degrees apart. 
     
     
         15 . The article of  claim 1 , wherein the optical effect imparts a single hue when the articles is viewed from at least two different angles 15 degrees apart. 
     
     
         16 . The article of  claim 1 , further comprising a textured surface on a first side of the optical element, wherein the textured surface has a plurality of profile features and a plurality of flat areas. 
     
     
         17 . The article of  claim 16 , wherein both the length and the width of the profile feature is greater than 500 micrometers. 
     
     
         18 . The article of  claim 16 , wherein the height of the profile features can be greater than 50 micrometers. 
     
     
         19 . The article of  claim 16 , wherein at least one of the length and width of the profile feature is in the nanometer range, while the other of the length and the width of the profile feature is in the micrometer range. 
     
     
         20 . The article of  claim 16 , wherein spatial orientation of the profile features is a semi-random pattern or a set pattern.