An electrically conductive hybrid polyaniline/silver-coated polyester fabric for smart applications

Abstract

A highly conductive polyester fabric was fabricated by the two-step successive in situ polymerization of aniline. This was followed by silver electroless plating on the surface of the fabric. Also, a silver electroless-plated fabric and a PANI-coated fabric were prepared by the in situ chemical polymerization of aniline. The electrical conductivity measurements, scanning electron microscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, water contact angle measurements, wide angle X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and air permeability tests were conducted on the coated fabrics. It was found that the surface of the hybrid PANI/silver-coated fabric was coated with granular silver particles having the average diameter of 1.3 µm. Besides, the amount of the reduced silver on the surface of the fabric was much higher than that in the silver electroless-plated fabric. The emeraldine form of PANI was oxidized to pernigraniline and the silver ions were reduced to silver metal particles. The hybrid PANI/silver-coated fabric showed the electrical conductivity of 2.63 × 103 Scm−1; so, it could be applied in many smart wearable applications.

Multifunctional silver nanowire coated fabric capable of electrothermal, resistance temperature-sensitivity, electromagnetic interference shielding, and strain sensing

“…Smart wearable textiles have attracted widespread attention due to their flexibility, high sensitivity, stretchability, and light weight. Generally, conductive polymers (polyaniline, 1,2 polypyrrole, and 3,4 polythiophene 5,6 ), carbon materials, 7 metal particles 8 and piezoelectric yarns, 9 nanowires, 10 nanotube, 11 PVDF and ZnO nanofibrous composites, 12 photovoltaic energy textile, 13 copper, 14 nonmonotonic piezoresistive fibers, 15 and other nanomaterials can all make textiles conductive. However, conductive polymer as a conductive fill gives a relatively high conductivity, 16 but poor hand feeling and air permeability.…”

A Textile-Based Microfluidic Platform for the Detection of Cytostatic Drug Concentration in Sweat Samples

“…In situ polymerization of aniline on textile materials was utilized for the fabrication of conductive composite fabrics PANI/AgNO 3 /CO and PANI/CO which ensured specific electrical resistivity of 15 × 10 5 Ω/cm and 15 × 10 3 Ω/cm, respectively [6]. Furthermore, other textile fibers such as polyester (PET) [7,8], polyamide [9], polyacryl [10], and wool [11] were also coated with PANI in order to obtain better electrical properties. The surface and bulk conductivity of CO, wool, and PET fabrics coated with PANI were also investigated in [12].…”