Abstract
This study demonstrates a scalable fabrication process for producing biodegradable, highly stretchable and wearable melt spun thermoplastic polypropylene (PP), poly(lactic) acid (PLA), and composite (PP:PLA = 50:50) conductive yarns through a dip coating process. Polydopamine (PDA) treated and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) coated conductive PP, PLA, and PP/PLA yarns generated electric conductivity of 0.75 S/cm, 0.36 S/cm and 0.67 S/cm respectively. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) confirmed the interactions among the functional groups of PP, PLA, PP/PLA, PDA, and PEDOT:PSS. The surface morphology of thermoplastic yarns was characterized by optical microscope and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The mechanical properties of yarns were also assessed, which include tensile strength (TS), Young’s modulus and elongation at break (%). These highly stretchable and flexible conductive PP, PLA, and PP/PLA yarns showed elasticity of 667%, 121% and 315% respectively. The thermal behavior of yarns was evaluated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA). Wash stability of conductive yarns was also measured. Furthermore, ageing effect was determined to predict the shelf life of the conductive yarns. We believe that these highly stretchable and flexible PEDOT:PSS coated conductive PP, PLA, and PP/PLA composite yarns fabricated by this process can be integrated into textiles for strain sensing to monitor the tiny movement of human motion.
Highlights
Smart textiles have drawn increased attention from the academic researchers and industry people due to their high sensitivity, high flexibility, breathability, multitasking capability, availability, low cost, deformability and comfort [1,2,3,4,5]
The functional groups of all the samples such as pure PP, pure Poly(lactic acid) (PLA), blend PP/PLA, PDA and PEDOT:PSS were confirmed by interpretation of the Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra
Ploypeetchara et al [64] analyzed the spectra of different PP/PLA ratios and found the transmittance bands that represent PP and PLA were observed in the PP/PLA blend around 2952–2848cm−1, 1456–1454 cm−1, 1376 cm−1, 1183–1182 cm−1 and 1086–1184 cm−1
Summary
Smart textiles have drawn increased attention from the academic researchers and industry people due to their high sensitivity, high flexibility, breathability, multitasking capability, availability, low cost, deformability and comfort [1,2,3,4,5]. Wang et al [61] developed a PEDOT:PSS/PVA composite fiber via wet-spinning process for increasing the electrical conductivity and thermal stability but no information of washing is available. In this experiment, these conductive thermoplastic yarns were rinsed and the effect of rinsing on electric conductivity was assessed. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) was performed by TA analyzer (TA) Q1000 instrument (TA Instruments, New Castle, DE, USA) to measure the glass transition (Tg) and melting (Tm) temperature characteristics of thermoplastic PP, PLA, and blend PP/PLA conductive yarns to determine the thermal stability. The loss of electrical resistance during aging was measured every week in order to determine the shelf life of conductive yarn
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