Deposition of a conductive nanocomposite layer on cotton fibers by injecting nanomaterial colloid into an atmospheric pressure plasma jet

Abstract

Smart textiles play a decisive role in our daily lives as well as in various fields of medicine and the military. The choice of material and fabrication method are two major factors in the production of conductive textiles. This study reports the fabrication of conductive fibers by atmospheric plasma jet. Here, an innovative, one-step, and low-cost method was designed for the deposition of nanomaterial on flexible and sensitive surfaces to create electrically conductive coatings. The developed approach offers several advantages over competing techniques due to its compatibility with flexible substrates with no post-processing requirements. Graphene nanoplates, carbon nanotubes, iron chloride, and polyaniline (PANI) were chosen as the working material which was injected into the plasma gap. The colloid of the mentioned compounds was deposited by an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ). The fibers were then investigated in terms of surface morphology, electrical conductivity, and durability after washing them in aqueous solutions of non-ionic detergents. The deposited fibers exhibited an electrical conductivity of 3.66 KΩ/sq for a length of 1 cm. These obtained conductive can be utilized in various applications including electrical devices, wearable electronics, sensors, actuators, supercapacitors, and batteries.