Rapid Copper Metallization of Textile Materials: a Controlled Two-Step Route to Achieve User-Defined Patterns under Ambient Conditions

Abstract

Throughout history earth-abundant copper has been incorporated into textiles and it still caters to various needs in modern society. In this paper, we present a two-step copper metallization strategy to realize sequentially nondiffusive copper(II) patterning and rapid copper deposition on various textile materials, including cotton, polyester, nylon, and their mixtures. A new, cost-effective formulation is designed to minimize the copper pattern migration on textiles and to achieve user-defined copper patterns. The metallized copper is found to be very adhesive and stable against washing and oxidation. Furthermore, the copper-metallized textile exhibits excellent electrical conductivity that is ~3 times better than that of stainless steel and also inhibits the growth of bacteria effectively. This new copper metallization approach holds great promise as a commercially viable method to metallize an insulating textile, opening up research avenues for wearable electronics and functional garments.

Amidohydroxylated polyester with biophotoactivity along with retarding alkali hydrolysis through in situ synthesis of Cu/Cu2O nanoparticles using diethanolamine

“…Copper and cuprous oxide are a metallic and metallic oxide nanoparticles with very good properties such as antibacterial, antifungal, electrical and thermal properties that are cheaper than gold and silver nanoparticles . Also, the cuprous oxide is a promising photocatalytic metal oxide with a narrow direct band gap of 1.9 to 2.2 eV for degradation of dyes under the sunlight irradiation …”

Fabrication of dual-side metal patterns onto textile substrates for wearable electronics by combining wax-dot printing with electroless plating

“…(II), Printing conductive inks onto textiles with the aid of ink-jet printer. 26 Consequently, a highly viscous ink/paste is usually used to control the conductive patterns on textiles and thereby realise welldefined boundaries. Currently, it has gained more and more attention due to its appeal of being a maskless, non-contact and low material consumption printing procedure.…”

Metallisation of Textiles and Protection of Conductive Layers: An Overview of Application Techniques

“…As reported by Zhang et al [ 70 ], highly conductive, well-defined patterns on a cotton textile can be produced by two consecutive steps, including non-diffusive Cu(II) patterning by a highly viscous Cu hydroxide solution and subsequent reducing-agent-dependent Cu deposition on textiles. Wills et al [ 59 ] developed a selective patterning of Ag NPs to act as a catalyst (by a patent pending process) on cotton fabric using micro-dispensing and ink jet printing, followed by electroless Cu plating.…”