Smart color-changing textile with high contrast based on a single-sided conductive fabric

An electrically triggered color-changing fabric was prepared via a facile and low-cost approach combining the resistive heating properties of a conductive fabric and the color-changing properties of thermochromic materials. The conductive substrate was produced by the selective deposition of PPy on the cotton side of a commercially available polyester-covered cotton fabric, while the thermochromic ink was painted on the polyester side. The smart fabric showed remarkable resistive heating and color-changing properties under an applied current with bright color contrast due to the light color of the conductive substrate.