A hierarchical structure of l-cysteine/Ag NPs/hydrogel for conductive cotton fabrics with high stability against mechanical deformation

Abstract

Electrically conductive fabrics have been increasingly attracting interest due to their assembly facility with wearable devices. Herein, we propose a simple strategy for fabricating flexible, anti-fatigue, and conductive cotton fabrics. Our approach is innovative in fabricating hierarchical coating structure, which is composed of l-cysteine binder, silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs), and a conductive hydrogel coating. By coordinate bonds between the thiol groups and Ag atoms, the cysteine binder effectively enhances the affinity of cotton fibers for the Ag NPs. In-situ deposition of Ag NPs onto the l-cysteine modified cotton fabrics (Cy-Cot) yields electrically conductive fabrics (AgCy-Cot), which have conductivity as high as approximately 10 Ω/sq. Importantly, the top coating of the double-networked, self-healable, and conductive hydrogel provides remarkable electrical stability to the finished cotton fabric (GAgCy-Cot) under stretching, bending, and folding deformation. We believe that the methodology proposed here to fabricate conductive cotton fabric having high durability has potential for smart textile.