Bio-inspired coloration for wool fabrics at room temperature

Inspired by the remarkable adhesive property of marine mussels, a novel method was developed for wool coloration at room temperature. In this method, dopamine was utilized as a biomimetic precursor for wool coloration due to its structure similar to 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, an important component responsible for mussel adhesive. By using dopamine, wool coloration could be easily achieved at room temperature through a simple dip-coating process. Moreover, the obtained color appearance of wool fabrics could be tuned in a controllable way by the addition of other chemical components to the coloration bath. The dyed wool fabrics showed good color fastness properties.