Development of Thermal Camouflage Polyester-Cotton Blended Fabric for Defense Security Personnel via Coating with Graphene Oxide and Reduced Graphene Oxide

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this study, graphene oxide (GO) was prepared with modified Hummer’s method while reduce graphene oxide (rGO) was prepared in the presence of hydrazine hydrate and then coated on polyester cotton (PC) blend camouflage pattern print fabric using the pad-dry-cure method. The as-synthesized GO and rGO were characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis, X-ray diffraction (xRD), and UV-visible spectrophotometry. The surface morphology and the thermal camouflage property of the coated fabric were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and infrared thermal imaging test, respectively. The average particle size of GO and rGO were 99.8 nm and 0.4 nm, respectively. The fabrics treated with GO and rGO apparently reduced the emitting temperature of the human body and made it similar to the surrounding environment. The increase in the concentration of coating materials (GO and rGO) resulted in the enhancement of camouflage property. Interestingly, the camouflage property of the coated fabric was very good even after several washing cycles. Based on these scientific outcomes, the coating of PC fabric with GO and rGO is a novel and successful approach in the development of thermal camouflage technical textiles which can be potentially applied on pilot-scale experiments to establish its industrial-scale feasibility.