Graphene oxide incorporated waste wool/PAN hybrid fibres

Abstract

This work aims to evaluate the potential of using textile waste in smart textile applications in the form of a hybrid fibre with electrical properties. The bio-based electrically conductive fibres were fabricated from waste wool and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) via wet spinning with different wool content. The control PAN and hybrid fibre produced with the highest amount of wool content (25% w/v) were coated with graphene oxide (GO) using the "brushing and drying" technique. The GO nanosheets coated control PAN and wool/PAN hybrid fibres were chemically reduced through hydrazine vapour exposure. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed the presence of both protein and nitrile peaks in the wool/PAN hybrid fibres, although the amide I and amide A groups had disappeared, due to the dissolution of wool. The morphological and structural analysis revealed effective coating and reduction of the fibres through GO nanosheets and hydrazine, respectively. The hybrid fibre showed higher electrical conductivity (~ 180 S/cm) compared to the control PAN fibres (~ 95 S/cm), confirming an effective bonding between the hydroxyl and carboxylic groups of the GO sheets and the amino groups of wool evidenced by chemical analysis. Hence, the graphene oxide incorporated wool/PAN hybrid fibres may provide a promising solution for eco-friendly smart textile applications.

A Facile Approach of Fabricating Electrically Conductive Knitted Fabrics Using Graphene Oxide and Textile-Based Waste Material

“…The control PAN fibres (100% PAN) and wool/PAN composite fibres (25% wool) were produced using the wet spinning technique, as reported previously [ 19 ]. Sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4 , 98%), expandable graphite, potassium permanganate (KMnO 4 ), hydrochloric acid (HCl, 32%), hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 , 30%), and hydrazine monohydrate (N 2 H 4 ·H 2 O) were purchased from the Sigma-Aldrich, New South Wales, Australia.…”

“…The synthesis of GO was accomplished using the modified Hummers method [ 19 ]. The synthesised GO solution (1% ( w / v )) was coated onto the CPKF and WPKF by the “brushing and drying” technique ( Supplementary Section S1 ) [ 15 ], and were named CPGOKF and WPGOKF, respectively.…”

“…Although the surface resistivity is often expressed also in Ohm/square, this is not a valid unit from the dimensional analysis point of view [ 22 ]. The resistance of the samples was assessed 20 times and an average value was used to determine the electrical conductivity of the knitted fabrics via the formula shown in Equation (1) [ 19 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. where σ is the conductivity (S/cm), R is the resistivity (Ω), A is the cross-sectional area of the fabric, which was measured using the width (cm) and thickness (cm) of the fabric samples, and L is the length of the fabric samples (cm).…”

“…Although commercially available fabrics are mainly purchased and coated with graphene, then reduced by following the physical or chemical approaches to fabricate the electro-conductive fabrics, there are few, if any, reports on the production of knitted fabrics utilising the waste textile sources and their subsequent transformation into electrically conductive fabrics. We have previously reported a successful and eco-friendly transformation of short and non-spinnable waste wool fibres into powder, then fabricated them into the wet-spun wool/PAN composite fibres [ 19 ]. In this study, we aimed to investigate the feasibility of developing an electrically conductive fabric from this previously wet-spun wool/PAN composite fibre [ 19 ].…”

“…We have previously reported a successful and eco-friendly transformation of short and non-spinnable waste wool fibres into powder, then fabricated them into the wet-spun wool/PAN composite fibres [ 19 ]. In this study, we aimed to investigate the feasibility of developing an electrically conductive fabric from this previously wet-spun wool/PAN composite fibre [ 19 ]. In this work, the as-prepared wool/PAN composite fibres were converted into knitted fabrics using the knitting technique.…”