Multifunctional Graphene Hair Dye

Abstract

Graphene-based sheets are found to be excellent hair dyes. Graphene oxide (GO) and its reduced form r-GO can be used to create water-based formulations to form smooth and continuous coatings on hair. This not only avoids the use of toxic, small molecular ingredients in common hair dyes but also renders new properties of hair for enhanced comfort, such as greatly improved antistatic performance and heat dissipation. After drying, the graphene hair dyes can form a strongly adhering coating on hair surfaces, which can resist repetitive washing with shampoo, and thus reach the performance requirement of permanent hair dyes. The color of the GO coating can be gradually darkened or patterned to create the effect of gradient dyeing, and the lightness of the resulting r-GOcoating can be adjusted through the loading level to produce different shades. Replacing toxic molecular ingredients with graphene-based sheets can lead to safer hair dyes. Multifunctional hair dyes that leverage graphene's high surface area, flexibility, electrical and thermal conductivity, and antibacterial and barrier properties can be created to render tunable hair color as well as enhanced human comfort, health, and aesthetics. The waste from graphene-coated hair can be recycled and repurposed for the creation of functional materials for other electronic or energy storage devices. Other than fashion and aesthetics, graphene-based hair dyes could also potentially benefit the development of electronics interfacing with the body, as well as livestock farming and the development of humanoid robots. Graphene-based materials are found to be excellent hair dyes that also render hairs with new properties such as antistatic and enhanced thermal dissipation. Water-based graphene hair dyes can be sprayed or brushed onto hair and dried to yield a uniform colorization effect comparable with that of commercial hair dyes. Graphene coating on hair can resist repetitive washing with shampoo and thus reach the performance of permanent hair dyes. The color of the coating can be tuned to create different shades of dark to black colors or even gradient colors.