Comparative study of electrically conductive cotton fabric prepared through the in situ synthesis of different conductive materials

Abstract

The electrical conductivity of cotton fabrics was enhanced using an in situ synthesis of graphene or polymerization of conductive polymer. The impact of conductive materials concentration and monomer to oxidant molar ratio examined on the sheet resistance of coated cotton fabric. The polypyrrole coating resulted in a continuous layer consisting of spherical particles of different sizes, which presented an excellent electrical conductivity. The FTIR spectroscopy showed successful production of synthesized conductive materials. The ATR–FTIR spectroscopy confirmed hydrogen bonds between the hydroxyl groups of cotton fibers and the conductive materials. The successful exfoliation and uniform deposition of graphene over the fibers were verified by the crystallographic structure of the graphene-coated cotton fabric. The deposition of graphene oxide resulted in a partial decrease in the electrical resistance of the cotton sample. However, reduced graphene oxide showed a sheet resistance of 220 × 103 Ω/square, representing a decrease of 95%. The lowest sheet resistance of 1 × 103 Ω/square was observed in the polypyrrole coated cotton, and the pyrrole to oxidant molar ratio didn’t affect the conductivity of the coated cotton fabric. In contrast, the sheet resistance of polyaniline-coated cotton fabrics depended on the molar ratio of aniline to oxidant. Also, the electrical conductivity of synthesized polyaniline is very sensitive to the degree of oxidation and protonation. The protonated pernigraniline altered to green color due to the emeraldine salt and showed the lowest sheet resistance.