Flexible Conductive Fabrics Research Articles

Transformation of waste thermocol into activated carbon for electrochemical detection of ammonia in an aqueous solution

In this study, waste thermocol sheets are used to synthesize activated carbon (AC) for the electrochemical detection of ammonia in an aqueous solution. The AC is characterized for its morphology, structure, and chemical composition via standard characterization techniques. AC shows promise for detecting ammonia in aqueous solutions due to its high adsorption capacity from large surface area and porosity. The electrochemical approach used to detect ammonia (NH3) in electrolyte solutions uses an AC electrode and is based mostly on the electro-oxidative conversion of ammonia species at the electrode's interface. AC electrodes fabricated on flexible conductive fabric (CF) are used for the electrochemical detection of ammonia at pH 6. The electrochemical sensing of ammonia in aqueous solutions involves its oxidation on the electrode's surface. Cyclic Voltammetry (CV) experiments were conducted over a pH range of 5 to 8, revealing optimal current responses at pH 6. Therefore, phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) at pH 6.0 was employed for all electrochemical analyses. Various concentrations of ammonia (10–100 ppm) were investigated within a voltage window of −0.3 V to 0.3 V, with current signals increasing proportionally with ammonia concentration. The limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) were determined to be 28.55 ppm and 86.54 ppm, respectively. An incubation period of 3 min was observed for ammonia concentrations ranging from 0 to 40 ppm. Selectivity evaluations were conducted by assessing interference effects from ethanol (E), methanol (M), toluene (T), and uric acid (UA), revealing ammonia's distinctive peak, indicative of superior selectivity. Notably, the electrode exhibited remarkable stability, retaining approximately 95 % of the original signal over a 5-week duration. The reproducibility of the fabricated electrodes shows significant results. The repeatability was performed at room temperature in a buffer solution of pH 6 and at a 40-ppm concentration of ammonia and has shown almost similar results. Therefore, the fabricated AC sensing electrode has shown prominent stability, reproducibility, and repeatability. These sensing electrodes can be very beneficial for sensing applications.

Synthesis, characterization, and implementation of BaNiO3 perovskite nanoparticles as thin film supercapacitor electrode

AbstractThis work is the first attempt to explore the supercapacitor applications of Barium nickelate (BaNiO3) perovskite nanoparticles. The nanoparticles are synthesized using a simple combustion method and their morphology, elemental composition, and so forth are studied using standard characterization methods such as x‐ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and so forth. The nanoparticles were found to be hexagonal in shape, with an average particle size of 16 nm, and the elemental analysis confirms the successful synthesis of the BaNiO3 perovskite nanoparticles. For electrochemical studies, the electrodes are fabricated over a wearable and flexible conductive fabric (CF) substrate. A slurry paste of the synthesized BaNiO3 nanoparticles is applied over CF and dried overnight, thereby forming a thin film electrode. The fabricated electrode acts as a positive electrode with a high specific capacitance of 508.64 F g−1 at 2.2 A g−1 current density. Upon increasing the current density, the electrode maintains 60% of its specific capacitance and displays 97% cyclic stability over 5000 cycles. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) study indicates excellent conductivity of the electrode, with a bulk resistance of 3.2 Ohms. The electrochemical performance of the fabricated electrode is also compared with various previously reported works and the electrode displays higher specific capacitance and better cyclic stability. These findings suggest that the BaNiO3 perovskite nanoparticles‐based electrode holds promise for utilization as an anode material in supercapacitor applications.

Deposition of ZIF-67 and polypyrrole on current collector knitted from carbon nanotube-wrapped polymer yarns as a high-performance electrode for flexible supercapacitors

Polymeric fiber fabrics with inherent mechanical flexibility, lightweight and porous textile structure are highly attractive as an ideal substrate for building flexible electrodes. However, their insulating nature limits their direct application as current collector. Here, we designed and fabricated a flexible conductive fabric from polymer yarns. This was achieved through wrapping polymer yarns with a carbon nanotube (CNT) cylinder, which was continuously prepared from a floating catalyst chemical vapor deposition process, and a subsequent knitting process. The derived CNT-wrapped polymer yarn fabric (CPYF) could directly serve as current collector/substrate to load zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67) and polypyrrole (PPy) through in-situ growth and chemical polymerization. The resultant CPYF-ZIF-67-PPy displayed a maximum areal capacitance of 2308.8 mF cm−2 at 0.5 mA cm−2. Moreover, the assembled supercapacitor achieved a maximum areal energy density of 112 μW h cm−2 at the power density of 201.5 μW cm−2. Meanwhile, the device demonstrated an extraordinary flexibility with stable electrochemical properties after 5000 cycles of bending and 1000 cycles of stretching. This work therefore offers a new strategy that can be used to develop flexible conductive fabric for flexible supercapacitors.

Effect of Reducing Agents on The Performance of AgNPs and PANI Flexible Conductive Fabrics

Cotton fabric with the addition of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and polyaniline (PANI) was developed as a flexible electrode to measure muscle biopotential signals using Electromyography (EMG) in this study. AgNPs are synthesized using two reduci

A reliable method by utilizing thermo-responsive palladium nanocomposite for fabricating Nickel coating on nylon 6 fabrics

Flexible conductive textiles are one of the best choices for smart textiles due to their comfortable wearing and good compliance with the human body. The great adhesion and durability of metal coatings onto substrate surfaces are important indicators for the high-performance requirements of smart textiles. The main bottleneck for the development of flexible conductive textiles is the poor adhesion between the metal coating and the substrate, so efforts have been made to improve it on a variety of fabrics. Herein, we reported a facile and economical method to fabricate flexible conductive fabrics using commercial nylon 6 fabrics as substrates. In brief, Styrene-co-N-Isopropylacrylamide/Pd (St-co-NIPAAm/Pd) nanocomposites acted as activators and adhesive interlayers for electroless plating to improve the adhesion of the nickel layer onto the nylon 6 surface. A highly conductive nylon 6 fabric was prepared by a coating of St-co-NIPAAm/Pd nanocomposite and followed by Ni-P electroless plating. The optimal electroless plating process parameters for fabricating adhesion-enhanced and highly reliable nickel coating were also investigated in the study. Its reliable conductivity and high durability mean it is promising for smart textiles, even via a series of repeated bending and washing tests. In addition, we explain the mechanism by which St-co-NIPAAm/Pd nanocomposites change at a temperature below or beyond the lower critical solution temperature (LCST). To sum up, the developed conductive nylon 6 fabric can lay the groundwork for the subsequent development of smart textiles.

Experimental study on the temperature-sensitive behavior of poly-n-isopropylacrylamide/graphene oxide composites and the flexible conductive cotton fabrics

This work focused on the development and characterization of poly-n-isopropylacrylamide/graphene oxide composite (PNIPAM-GO) which was prepared by in situ free radical polymerization of n-isopropylacrylamide and graphene oxide (GO). It was then compounded on cotton fabrics by dip-drying layer group method to prepare PNIPAM-GO/cotton fabrics, which were further reduced by hydrazine hydrate to obtain PNIPAM-rGO/cotton conductive fabrics. The conductivity of flexible conductive fabrics and performance of PNIPAM-GO composite were studied by scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that PNIPAM-GO composites have reversible temperature-sensitive response, the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of PNIPAM-GO composites increased with the introduction of GO. With increasing of dip-drying cycles, the resistance value of PNIPAM-rGO/cotton fabrics decreased, which decreased from 908.3 KΩ with 5 dip-drying cycle processes to 162.5 KΩ with 15 dip-drying cycle processes at 25 °C. Besides, PNIPAM-rGO/cotton fabrics have temperature-sensitive conductivity, the resistance value decreased when testing temperature above LCST. The results also show that the resistance value changed reversibly with the changing of testing temperature above or below the LCST of PNIPAM-GO. Therefore, PNIPAM-rGO/cotton fabrics have potential development in flexible conductive materials in temperature control valve.

Facile fabrication of flexible and conductive AuNP/DWCNT fabric with enhanced Joule heating efficiency via spray coating route

In this paper, a flexible conductive fabric is demonstrated using double-walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) incorporated with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by a facile and cost-effective spray-coating method. The electronic conduction of AuNP/DWCNT-coated textile is effectively improved. By hybridizing with AuNPs, the attachment of DWCNTs to woven fibers is more observable, as well as the nanotubes bridging to the inter-fibers, thus resulting in the increase of new current pathways. The flexibility of the fabricated textile devices was investigated, and their relative resistances were observed with a very small deviation, indicating of great bendable properties. Moreover, the electrothermal properties of the conductive fabric heaters are demonstrated at various applied voltages. The hybrid AuNP/DWCNT fabric heater exhibits excellent Joule heating performance with the reachable steady-state temperature of 59 °C under an input voltage of 9 V, superior to the pristine DWCNT textile heater with having lower steady-state temperature as of 39 °C. The results show that the facile and efficient method used in this work could be useful for fabricating highly conductive woven textile with the enhanced Joule heating behaviors, and further utilized as a fabric heating element in various e-textile applications.

Co/Zn bimetal organic framework elliptical nanosheets on flexible conductive fabric for energy harvesting and environmental monitoring via triboelectricity

Flexible and portable power sources are imperative chunks of wearable electronic devices. Fabric-based triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have become most promising energy sources for wearable electronic devices as they can generate electrical energy from biomechanical movements with great flexibility. In this study, a highly flexible Co/Zn bimetal organic framework based TENG (BMOF TENG) is fabricated. Facilely prepared Co/Zn BMOF nanosheets are coated on flexible conductive fabric (BMOF/FCF) and utilized as the tribo-positive material against PTFE/Al based tribo-negative material for the fabrication of the BMOF TENG. The content of Zn is varied from 0% to 50% to achieve superior electrical output and observed that the 15% of Zn is appropriate for superior electrical output. The open circuit voltage, the short circuit current, and the charge density of the BMOF TENG are increased from 11 V to 47 V, from 1.06 µA to 7 µA, and from 4 nC/cm 2 to ~17 nC/cm 2 , respectively when the Zn content is increased from 0% to 15%. Thus, the optimized content of Zn in Co/Zn BMOF helped to enhance the electrical output of the BMOF TENG by nearly 450%. The output power of the BMOF TENG is found to be 1.1 mW/m 2 at a load resistance of 2 MΩ. As the phenomenon of gas sensing is largely associated to the surface of the material, the advantage of unique surface features of the BMOF/FCF is utilized in sensing hazardous gases. The device has shown variations in its electrical output in the presence of air and targeted gas and the good selectivity towards ammonia at room temperature. Ultimately, the BMOF TENG proposed in this study can convert mechanical energy into electrical energy and can be employed as an ammonia sensor in environmental monitoring and food quality assessment. • For the first time, Co/Zn bimetal organic framework (BMOF) nanosheet coated fabric is used for TENG. • At the optimized content of Zn (15%) in Co/Zn BMOF, the BMOF TENG is generated enhanced electrical output. • Fabric based flexible BMOF TENG is successfully employed as a room temperature ammonia sensor. • The unique surface morphology of BMOF has helped to evince good sensing behavior of the device. • Proposed BMOF TENG is able to serve as an energy harvesting as well as environmental monitoring device.

A humidity-resistant, stretchable and wearable textile-based triboelectric nanogenerator for mechanical energy harvesting and multifunctional self-powered haptic sensing

Textile-based triboelectric nanogenerators (t-TENGs) have attracted extensive attention in wearable power source and movement monitoring. However, the electrical output performance and environmental adaptability of t-TENGs in single-electrode mode are still unsatisfactory, which significantly limits their applications. This limitation is especially more pronounced in humid environments. In the present study, a humidity-resistant and stretchable single-electrode t-TENG (abbreviated as PFL@WFCF-TENG) consisting of the porous flexible layer (PFL) and waterproof flexible conductive fabric (WFCF) has been designed to improve the output performance. Considering the three-dimensional structure and excellent superhydrophobicity of PFL and superior conductivity of WFCF, the resultant PFL@WFCF-TENG (2 × 4 cm2 area) has high outputs (~135 V, ~7.5 μA, 26 μC/m2, 631.5 mW/m2) and favorable humidity-resistant (80% RH). Based on these excellent features, the proposed PFL@WFCF-TENG is expected to be applied for intelligent alarming, haptic sensing, and energy harvesting. Moreover, combined with the microelectronic module, a portable and wearable self-powered haptic controller based on the PFL@WFCF-TENG has been designed for various human–machine interface (HMI) scenarios, such as controlling of the lamp, electronic badge, computer application, and humidifier. The PFL@WFCF-TENG proposed in this study not only provides a feasible solution for developing wearable electronic devices with high electrical output even in high-humidity environments but also shows promising applications in a variety of areas, including wearable power supply, portable computer peripherals, intelligent robots and security systems.

An eco-friendly hot-water therapy towards ternary layered double hydroxides laminated flexible fabrics for wearable supercapatteries

Abstract In recent years, a substantial advancement in flexible and wearable consumer electronics has expedited the research community to develop flexible, lightweight, and sophisticated energy storage systems via cost-effective and safe preparation methods. In this context, we propose a state-of-the-art hot-water therapy (HWT) method to trigger nickel-copper-cobalt layered double hydroxide nanosheets on flexible conductive fabric (Ni–Cu–Co LDH NSs/CF). In the proposed HWT method, de-ionized water plays a significant role in generating NSs from CF in a manner similar to germination of plants in a farmland. Exploiting the morphological and inherent traits of the active material, the Ni–Cu–Co LDH NSs/CF electrode delivered maximum areal capacity of 104.2 μAh cm−2 with an outstanding cycling stability of 124.5%. Furthermore, a supercapattery that fabricated with Ni–Cu–Co LDH NSs/CF and activated carbon delivered high areal capacitance of 232 mF cm−2 at 2 mA cm−2. Additionally, the device exhibited maximum areal energy and power densities of 0.0734 mWh cm−2 and 15 mW cm−2, respectively. A prototype flexible charge-storage station has been also designed using the fabricated supercapatteries in conjunction with a flexible solar cell panel to demonstrate the real-time feasibility of our flexible device. The prolific and state-of-the-art HWT approach can initiate substantial advancements in the rational design of eco-friendly electrode materials for wearable applications.

Facile synthesis of nickel/reduced graphene oxide-coated glass fabric for highly efficient electromagnetic interference shielding

High-performance electromagnetic interference (EMI) shields are urgently required due to more and more serious electromagnetic pollution. In this work, nickel/reduced graphene oxide-coated glass fabrics modified with poly(dopamine) (Ni/RGO-PDA) were prepared by dipping and electroless deposition for EMI shielding. The synergistic effect of poly(dopamine) and RGO is beneficial to nickel electroless plating and the establishment of conductive network. Ni/RGO-PDA-coated glass fabrics show low resistance of 0.231 Ω sq−1. The heating temperature of Ni/RGO-PDA-coated glass fabrics is steady at around 168 ℃ when they are exposed to a low voltage of 2 V. In addition, EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) of Ni/RGO-PDA-coated glass fabrics ranges from 62 to 88 dB in the range of 2–18 GHz, which could even be maintained after corrosion. The result indicates that Ni/RGO-PDA-coated glass fabrics exhibit excellent electrical conductivity, heating property, and EMI SE, which could be promisingly used as flexible conductive fabrics, electric heating, and electromagnetic shielding materials.

Preparation and Application of Flexible Conductive Fabric Based on Silk

Applications in wearable and implantable electronic information products have increased in recent years, and traditional conductive materials have poor flexibility. To meet the trend of flexible, wearable and implantable electronic devices, flexible conductive materials are widely accepted. Here, we report on a method of preparing a flexible conductive textile material. The graphene is finished onto the surface of the silk fabric by multiple impregnation-reduction methods, and the silk fabric retains good flexibility while obtaining conductivity. Flexible conductive silk also has a good temperature and strain response, and its electrical resistance changes with temperature and strain. The obtained flexible conductive silk fabric has the advantages of both silk fabric and graphene, it has broad application prospects in wearable devices, health care monitoring, and human-machine interface.

Nanostructure and electrical conductivity correlation of O2 plasma processing and AgNW-coated condensation polymer

The aim of this study is to invent the flexible conductive fabrics and films through O2 plasma pretreatment and silver nanowire (AgNW) solution coating. And nanostructure and electrical conductivity correlation characteristics were studied using FE-SEM, atomic force microscopy, water contact angle, electricity, and FTIR spectroscopy. It was found that as O2 plasma processing time was increased, the surface roughness (nm) and surface hydrophilicity of film were also increased. Moreover, electrical resistance (Ω/cm) was decreased when O2 plasma pretreatment time and the applied amount of AgNW solution were increased. O2 plasma treated polyethylene terephthalate(PET) films(without AgNW coating) showed high electrical resistance to the point of being nonconductive materials. Besides, water contact angles of film decreased as the O2 plasma treatment time was increased, which shows that plasma treatment time has an effect on electrical conductivity. The FTIR shows that the transmittance peak depth of plasma-treated samples was reduced compared to that of the untreated samples. Therefore, it is estimated that O2 plasma-treated and AgNW-coated fabrics and films can be applied to high-function smart wear, flexible transparent electrode materials, information and communication technology, and the Internet of Things(IoT).

Highly flexible conductive fabrics with hierarchically nanostructured amorphous nickel tungsten tetraoxide for enhanced electrochemical energy storage

Amorphous nickel tungsten tetraoxide (NiWO4) nanostructures (NSs) were successfully synthesized on a flexible conductive fabric (CF) using a facile onestep electrochemical deposition (ED) method. With an applied external cathodic voltage (–1.8 V for 15 min), the amorphous NiWO4 NSs with burl-like morphologies adhered well on the seed-coated CF substrate. The burl-like amorphous NiWO4 NSs on CF (NiWO4 NSs/CF) are employed as a flexible and binder-free electrode for pseudocapacitors, which exhibit remarkable electrochemical properties with high specific capacitance (1,190.2 F/g at 2 A/g), excellent cyclic stability (92% at 10 A/g), and good rate capability (765.7 F/g at 20 A/g) in 1 M KOH electrolyte solution. The superior electrochemical properties can be ascribed to the hierarchical structure and large specific surface area of the burl-like amorphous NiWO4 NSs/CF. This cost-effective facile method for the synthesis of metal tungsten tetraoxide nanomaterials on a flexible CF could be promising for advanced electronic and energy storage device applications.