Conductive Polyamide–Graphene Composite Fabric via Interface Engineering

Abstract

Conductive fabrics have received significant attention because of their widespread applications from smart textiles to energy storage devices. Conductive colloidal materials are preferred as a coating on the fabric to achieve desirable electronic conductivity; however, obtaining a uniform coverage with a simple and effective route is a challenge. Herein, we report exfoliated graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) in low boiling point solvents and their subsequent coating onto a polyamide fabric surface. Few-layered (average <7 layers) GNPs were obtained by optimizing solubility parameters of solvent mixtures and sonication time. Raman spectroscopy showed that the I D/I G ratio changed from 0.33 to 0.38 in the GNP solution before and after the sonication, confirming an insignificant increase in defects on the basal plane of graphene after sonication treatment. Uniform coating of GNPs was obtained by optimizing concentration and sonication times. Scanning electron microscopy showed a uniform coverage of GNPs, and the surface resistivity of the polyamide fabric decreased from infinity to ∼40 kΩ after 4 h of coating. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the minimal effect on the fabric crystallinity during processing. This interface engineering approach is simple and scalable, and it is applicable for the coating of different polymeric fabrics with a great promise in electronic textiles.

Development and characterization of graphite nanoplatelets filled copolymer of benzoxazine and epoxy

“…Note that a good dispersing medium was required to ease the GNP dispersion in the polymer matrix during the ultrasonication process and to prevent nanoparticles from sedimentation and re‐agglomeration (stability of dispersion). [ 27 ] Hernandez et al [ 28 ] showed good dispersing media for GNPs possessed a range of Hansen and Hildebrand solubility parameters. It was reported that a good medium had the value of δ D (dispersive) between 15 MPa 1/2 and 21 MPa 1/2 as well as non‐zero values for δ P (polar) and δ H (hydrogen bonding).…”

Properties of Graphene-Thermoplastic Polyurethane Flexible Conductive Film

“…When the RGO mass content in the composite film reaches a certain value, the RGO in the composite film overlaps and stacks with each other, and the conductive networks are established in the film. As such, the composite film exhibits conductivity [28][29][30][31][32]. As the RGO mass content increases, more and more conductive networks in the film are formed and the conductivity of the composite film gradually increases.…”

“…25% and a Young's modulus of ca.1 TPa, and the light weight, which make it highly suitable for flexible electronic devices [14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. Graphene-based conductive composite materials prepared require a certain amount of graphene sheets that are incorporated and homogeneously distributed into polymer matrices [27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. Stankovich et al reported that a polystyrene-graphene composite formed via complete exfoliation of graphite and molecular-level dispersion of individual chemically-modified graphene sheets within polystyrene exhibited a percolation threshold of approximately a 0.1 volume percentage for room-temperature electrical conductivity, and, at only 1 volume percentage, this composite has a conductivity of approximately 0.1 S·m −1 .…”

“…Huang et al reported that they prepared thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) containing a few layers of graphene and their healing performance by microwave radiation [32]. Luan et al reported that the healing performance of TPU composites are filled with grapheme -carbon nanotubes (CNTs) under microwave radiation [33].Most of the previous research work related to the polymer composites containing graphene mainly focus on improving the electrical and mechanical properties [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34]. To the best of our knowledge, there are few reports that systemically investigate graphene-polymer composites as flexible conductive films.…”

Recent Progress in Textile-Based Flexible Supercapacitor

“…Further, the minimal effect on fabric crystallinity and uniform coating of GNP nanoplatelets on polyamide fabric has been confirmed by XRD and SEM results, respectively. This interface engineering approach is used for coating any polymeric fabric to produce E-textile related material (Barjasteh et al, 2019).…”