Manufacturing Organic Environmentally Friendly Electrical Circuits Using the Composites’ Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes and PEDOT:PSS

Abstract

Herein, several different methods of preparation to explore the thermal and electrical properties of cotton fabric impregnated with single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and poly (3,4 ethylenedioxy thiophene) poly(styrenesul‐fonate) (PEDOT:PSS) are used. The SWCNTs and PEDOT:PSS are delivered by the drop‐casting technique either as a mixture of these constituents or as a series of steps in which each constituent is added sequentially. The primary finding is that lower sheet resistances can be achieved by applying the constituents in sequence rather than as a mixture. For example, given fixed amounts of SWCNTs and PEDOT:PSS delivered as a mixture have sheet resistance 2.158 Ω cm−1, but when the same amounts are delivered in the order SWCNTs followed by PEDOT: PSS, the sheet resistance is reduced to 0.985 Ω cm−1, and when this order is reversed, the sheet resistance is further reduced to 0.633 Ω cm−1. Finally, when the same total amounts of SWCNTs and PEDOT:PSS are delivered in the order SWCNTs followed by PEDOT:PSS, followed by SWCNTs, the sheet resistance is further reduced to 0.342 Ω cm−1. Sheet resistances of the conductive cotton fabric are found to be stable over a period of 4 months at room temperature.