Electrical conductivity of the graphene nanoplatelets coated natural and synthetic fibres using electrophoretic deposition technique

<p>Herein, electrically conductive natural and synthetic yarns through electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique were fabricated. A parametric study on the conductivity enhancement of the yarns is carried out by Taguchi method. Using this method, the desirable conditions are determined by studying the effects of important parameters on the electrical conductivity of the yarns in the EPD coating process. Based on the L₁₈ design of experiments table, the preferred combination of factors to obtain the highest electrical conductivity of the yarns is found by Taguchi analysis. In addition, the Pareto ANOVA analysis is conducted to identify the major contributing factors on the electrical conductivity of the yarns. Characterisation techniques, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in attenuated total reflectance (ATR) mode, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) are utilised for better understanding the microstructure and physical properties. When powered by only 3 V, the maximum temperature of a Joule heated conductive sample based on natural fibre yarns reached 102°C in less than 25 s.</p

Highly Stretchable Multifunctional Wearable Devices Based on Conductive Cotton and Wool Fabrics

The demand for stretchable, flexible, and wearable multifunctional devices based on conductive nanomaterials is rapidly increasing considering their interesting applications including human motion detection, robotics, and human–machine interface. There still exists a great challenge to manufacture stretchable, flexible, and wearable devices through a scalable and cost-effective fabrication method. Herein, we report a simple method for the mass production of electrically conductive textiles, made of cotton and wool, by hybridization of graphene nanoplatelets and carbon black particles. Conductive textiles incorporated into a highly elastic elastomer are utilized as highly stretchable and wearable strain sensors and heaters. The electromechanical characterizations of our multifunctional devices establish their excellent performance as wearable strain sensors to monitor various human motions, such as finger, wrist, and knee joint movements, and to recognize sound with high durability. Furthermore, the electrothermal behavior of our devices shows their potential application as stretchable and wearable heaters working at a maximum temperature of 103 °C powered with 20 V