The production of soft, durable, and electrically conductive polyester multifilament yarns by dye-printing them with carbon nanotubes

Abstract

(B. Fugetsu)2 Continuous yarns and/or fibers composed of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are highly attractive due to their intrinsic ability to form a variety of macroscopic objects by simply knitting and/or weaving of the yarns/fibers. The production of continuous yarns of pure CNTs has been accomplished by "dry-spinning", the mechanical process of spinning either the single-walled CNTs directly from a CVD (chemical vapor deposition) gaseous reaction zone [1,2] or with the multi-walled CNTs previously grown as a vertically oriented CNT forest [3,4] . In contrast, "wet-spinning", the spinning of a "super-acid (100 + %sulfuric acid) suspension" [5] of the single-walled CNTs, produced purely CNT-based continuous fibers.The pure CNT-based yarns and/or fibers retained the advantageous properties of the individual nanotubes, such as the high electrical and thermal conductivities. However, the preparation of industrial quantities of the single-walled CNTs or the multi-walled CNT forests, the precursors for making the CNT-based yarns/fibers, is presently impractical.Continuous fibers containing a few wt % of CNTs, obtained, for example, by incorporating the single-walled CNTs into PVA polymers [6, 7], have shown excellent fiber properties, but electrical and thermal conductivities were low because of limitations on the contents of CNTs. Despite the production of continuous fibers with up to 60 wt% CNT content [8], the development of the CNT-based continuous yarns/fibers having high industrial

Effects on the electro-mechanical properties of aniline-doped polyester fibric

“…The Polyaniline deposited as a spongy microfilm within the fabric (Figure2) was observed to have actually penetrated into the filaments, and of course, a larger percentage can be seen coating the filaments and also lodged between their interstices which functions as the electrically conductive layer (ECL).. This corroborates the results from the work of Fugetsu et al, (2009).…”

Functionalization of textiles with multi-walled carbon nanotubes by a novel dyeing-like process

“…The resulting textile exhibited superhydrophobicity, self-cleaning and flame retardancy as well as improved mechanical resistance and UV protection. The same authors also deposited unmodified MWCNTs onto cotton by ultrasonic irradiation followed by the dipping method; however, in this case, although the CNTs imparted some hydrophobicity to the fabric, this property was not durable [21]. In a distinct approach, MWCNTs previously oxidized and sequentially functionalized with pending dihydroxyphenyl groups and a perfluoroalkoxysilane were impregnated in cotton, endowing superhydrophobicity to the fabric [25].…”

“…The dyeinglike approach was the chosen methodology, since the conventional dyeing of textiles is applied in all textile dyeing industries and, therefore, the transfer of technology to an industrial level can be readily achieved. CNT-functionalized textiles (mainly containing single-walled CNTs) with remarkable electrical conductivity and capacitance have been prepared by this approach [6,[21][22][23]. However, to the best of our knowledge, no studies have been reported concerning the preparation of hydrophobic and/or flameretardant CNT-based textiles by this route.…”

“…CNTs are currently being incorporated in textiles to impart self-cleaning [16], superhydrophobicity [17], sensing [18], conducting [6,[19][20][21][22][23] and fire retardant [24] properties. They can be incorporated into the fabrics at various stages of production, such as in the fibre-spinning step, during yarn/fabric formation or at the finishing stage.…”

Graphene oxide as dyestuffs for the creation of electrically conductive fabrics

“…CNT-based dyestuffs in order to firmly immobilize the CNTs on the surface of the fabric yarn [14]. The GO is highly dispersible in water.…”