Electro Colour Prints

This resource on Electro Colour Prints was produced by Unitlab in collaboration STORE. It is an electrolysis demonstration which uses materials you can find at home to produce colourful patterns, helping to explain what happens during the electroysis process. The patterns make this resource suitable for younger students, as well as older students who would like to understand electrolysis in more depth.

In the experiment, students first make a conductive dye from red cabbage juice, then design a simple circuit from aluminium foil. When a 9V battery is connected, electrolysis causes chemical reactions in the dye, changing its colour where hydrogen and oxygen are produced. The result is a one-of-a-kind print in vivid blues and yellows that makes normally invisible electrical processes visible on fabric. Blending chemistry, electronics and design, the activity offers a hands-on introduction to electrochemical reactions while encouraging creative experimentation with pattern and material.