Polymer/CNT Composites and Filaments for Smart Textiles: Melt Mixing of Composites

Abstract

Textile products are of great importance in the dissemination of newly developed communication devices and flexible electronics in conjunction with the advantages of covering the entire human body and being used all day long by all individuals in society. Various approaches have been developed to ensure the required electrical conductivity of textiles. Our research deals with melt spinning of carbon nanomaterial-based composites (CNCs) into electrically conductive filaments. By combining the various composite structures and property profiles with a conductive filler at high concentration, specific morphological structures can be achieved that offer a much higher potential for the development of new functional fibers for different smart textile applications.This study aims to produce nanocomposites from polyamide 6 (PA6) and polyethylene (PE) matrices with single-walled CNTs (SWCNTs) and multi-walled CNTs (MWCNTs) by using a small-scale mixing device that provides short mixing time, and material savings in the first stage of the research.

Bicomponent melt spinning of polyamide 6/carbon nanotube/carbon black filaments: Investigation of effect of melt mass-flow rate on electrical conductivity

“…6 Thus, the structural properties of CPCs depend on dispersion and orientation aspects, polymer and nanofiller properties, which can vary widely. 7,8 Consequently, there are good reasons to investigate the possibility of using electrically conductive carbon nanomaterials (CNMs), such as carbon black (CB), carbon nanotubes (CNT), and graphene, modified polymer composites to make textile fibers electrically conductive without compromising their comfort and flexibility. However, producing conductive nanocomposite filaments is much more complex than creating CPCs.…”