Macro-structured carbon clusters for developing waterproof, breathable conductive cotton fabric

Abstract

Unique macro-structured carbon clusters are used to develop cost effective conductive cotton fabric. Nanoscale carbon particles are stabilized into macro-structured carbon black/polymer composite with the help of an aqueous solution of natural rubber latex, polyvinyl alcohol and other auxiliary additives. The ‘knife-over-roll’ technique is used to apply structured carbon black composite on the plain woven cotton fabric. The lowest resistivity level achieved by this process is less than 60 ± 5.4 Ohm/cm2, which is very much promising for developing cost-effective, waterproof, and breathable conductive fabric. Waterproofness up to 95 cm water head column and breathability up to 4400 g/m2/24 h is achieved simultaneously. The major ingredients of the blend composition are optimized to achieve the lowest level of the surface resistivity for modern smart textile applications. The surface topography is characterized by FESEM & AFM, and the tomography of the composite is realized by the micro-CT scan. The two-dimensional topography reveals that single as well as aggregates of 2–9 carbon black particles are bounded by the blended matrix to form the macro-structured carbon composite. The lowest impedance of 0.5 Ohm is observed to remain stable up to the frequency of 105 Hz of AC supply voltage.