Abstract
Conducting fibres are essential to the development of e-textiles. We demonstrate a method to make common insulating textile fibres conductive, by coating them with graphene. The resulting fibres display sheet resistance values as low as 600 Ωsq−1, demonstrating that the high conductivity of graphene is not lost when transferred to textile fibres. An extensive microscopic study of the surface of graphene-coated fibres is presented. We show that this method can be employed to textile fibres of different materials, sizes and shapes, and to different types of graphene. These graphene-based conductive fibres can be used as a platform to build integrated electronic devices directly in textiles.
Highlights
Conducting fibres are essential to the development of e-textiles
Conducting fibres are an important component of any e-textile, because they can be used as lightweight wiring for simple textile-based electronic components, and because they can provide a platform for building electronic devices directly on textile fibres
We have employed the same methodology to different materials, such as polyethylene (PE) and nylon, and to different fibre size and shape, cylindrical and tape-shaped (PP, PE, polylactic acid (PLA))
Summary
Conducting fibres are essential to the development of e-textiles. We demonstrate a method to make common insulating textile fibres conductive, by coating them with graphene. A different approach relies on polymer-free fabrication of conducting fibres, but the methods include the use of strong acids and coagulants[17], which greatly limits the potential for scaling up and commercialization Another strategy is to impregnate fibres with conductive materials after they have been manufactured. This method has been used for fibres, yarns and fabrics that are highly porous with a complex structure of microfibrils, such as cellulosic fibres These inks and dyes make use of several types of conductive materials, such as aluminium[18], carbon nanotubes[19], and graphene[20], and have been in the base of demonstrations of wearable and stretchable electronics, including integration onto surfaces of live plants and insects[21, 22]. This methodology is that such multifilament fibres and fabrics, compared to fibres coated prior or during manufacturing, tend to lose the conductive filling more if not completely encapsulated, and can pose end-of-life environmental concerns
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