Abstract
Graphene and its derivatives have shown outstanding potential in many fields and textile/composites industry are not an exception. Giving their extraordinary properties, Graphene Nanoplatelets (GNPs) are excellent candidates for providing new functionalities to fibers and composites. In this work, natural fabrics (flax) were functionalized with chitosan (CS) based polymeric formulations of GNPs to develop fibrous systems with electrical properties as well as other functionalities. One of the greatest disadvantages of using carbon-based materials for fabrics’ impregnation is their difficult dispersion. Therefore, several polymers were used as matrices, binding and dispersive agents including chitosan, polyethylene glycol (PEG), and glycerol. All the systems were characterized using several techniques that demonstrated the presence and incorporation of the GNPs onto the composites. Besides their characterization, considering their use as smart materials for monitoring and sensing applications, electrical properties were also evaluated. The highest value obtained for electrical conductivity was 0.04 S m−1 using 2% of GNPs. Furthermore, piezoresistive behavior was observed with Gauge Factor (GF) of 1.89 using 0.5% GNPs. Additionally, UV (ultraviolet) protection ability and hydrophobicity were analyzed, confirming the multifunctional behavior of the developed systems extending their potential of application in several areas.
Highlights
The development of intelligent and multifunctional flexible fibrous systems is in full growth due to wide variety of potential applications, resulting from their flexibility and adaptability to different forms and shapes [1]
The main goal of this work was the development of smart and multifunctional ecocomposites based on the combined effect of flax fabrics, Graphene Nanoplatelets (GNPs), Chitosan, and polyethylene glycol (PEG)
Several polymeric solutions, composed by CS, PEG, and Gly, were optimized, and the concentrations of GNPs added to the polymeric formulation
Summary
The development of intelligent and multifunctional flexible fibrous systems is in full growth due to wide variety of potential applications, resulting from their flexibility and adaptability to different forms and shapes [1]. Smart fibrous structures with the ability to sense the environment/user can be used as sensors for electrocardiogram (ECG), electromyography (EMG), electroencephalography (EEG), movement, or even weight sensors [2]. There are several examples of smart textiles containing hard cables and rigid electronic components that are not comfortable for the user, efforts should be made to use the fibrous structures themselves for the electronic functions. Instead of attaching electronics to textile substrates, the fibrous structures can be functionalized with conductive materials to create electrically conductive surfaces and to form highly efficient conductive networks essential for the piezoresistive behavior of the materials (variation in resistance during compression) [3,4,5]. To use fibrous systems as pressure sensors, the substrate must exhibit conductivity, and methods of providing conductivity to the textile have been widely studied. Metals, and metal oxide nanoparticles/nanowires, carbon based micron/nano materials, such as carbon particles, carbon nanotubes, carbon fibers and graphene, have been used and investigated [6,7]
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