Preparation and Characterization of PANI/PET Composite Conductive Fabric

Polyaniline /Polyester( PANI /PET) composite conductive fabric is prepared through in-situ polymerization process using aniline as monomer and PET fabric as matrix,which is treated with alkali deweighting and low temperature plasma. The property of PANI /PET composite conductive fabric is studied and characterized,including scanning electron microscope( SEM), infrared spectroscopy, conductivity, wash fastness and mechanical properties. The results show that the optimal polymerization conditions: the molar ratio of ammonium persulfate and aniline is1∶ 1,the concentration of sulfuric acid is 1 mol /L and reaction time is 90 min. Under optimum conditions,the surface resistivity of PANI /PET composite conductive fabric is about 170 Ω. After washed 5 times, the surface resistivity of PANI /PET composite conductive fabric is stable at 1 450 Ω. The breaking strength and breaking elongation of PANI /PET composite conductive fabric decrease compared with PET fabric.

Design and Modeling of a Flexible Conductive Fabric Antenna Integrated in an OLED Light Source for WIMAX Wireless Communication Systems

This work presents a new bendable antenna for worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) wireless communication systems. These antennas, transparent and flexible, will be easily integrated into various mdia and in particular OLED lighting which could be part of the public lighting network of tomorrow as well as on all display media. The integration of these antennas as close as possible to the end-user is a possible solution to reduce the energy consumption which goes hand in hand with the increase in the data rate. This kind of new antenna, designed to be integrated in organic light-emitting diode (OLED), was modeled from a transparent VeilShieldTM conductive fabric and was placed on a 100% polyester substrate with a thickness of 1.5 mm and a loss tangent of 0.02. We have tested and evaluated the characteristic parameters of our antenna, namely the reflection coefficient, the radiation pattern and the gain, to find out the performance of our proposed design. The performance of the transparent conductive fabric integrated in the 100% polyester substrate is tested for the application of flexible antenna operating at 3.5 GHz with a gain value of 5.38 dB. We have integrated this proposed new antenna with the OLED light source containing four layers of different materials and electrical properties: aluminum cathode layer, polymer layer, indium tin oxide (ITO) anode layer and glass substrate layer. After integration, the resonant frequency shifted to 3.52 GHz with a gain value of 4.61 dB. In addition, we also tested the concave bending on the reflection coefficient of the proposed flexible antenna taking into account the different bending angles. This work demonstrates the possibility of integrating these unconventional materials used for the proposed antenna within the OLED despite weak effects on the resonant frequency and the gain of the proposed antenna after integration.

A Novel Method of Fabricating Flexible Transparent Conductive Large Area Graphene Film

We fabricate flexible conductive and transparent graphene films on position-emission-tomography substrates and prepare large area graphene films by graphite oxide sheets with the new technical process. The multi-layer graphene oxide sheets can be chemically reduced by HNO3 and HI to form a highly conductive graphene film on a substrate at lower temperature. The reduced graphene oxide sheets show a high conductivity sheet with resistance of 476Ω/sq and transmittance of 76% at 550nm （6 layers）. The technique used to produce the transparent conductive graphene thin film is facile, inexpensive, and can be tunable for a large area production applied for electronics or touch screens.

Fabrication of High-Haze Flexible Transparent Conductive PMMA Films Embedded with Silver Nanowires

High-haze flexible transparent conductive polymethyl methacrylate （PMMA） films embedded with silver nanowires （AgNWs） are fabricated by a low-cost and simple process. The volatilization rate of the solvent in PMMA solution affects the surface microstructures and morphologies, which results in different haze factors of the composite films. The areal mass density of AgNW shows a significant influence on the optical and electrical properties of composite films. The AgNW/PMMA transparent conductive films with the sheet resistance of 5.5Ω sq ^-1 exhibit an excellent performance with a high haze factor of 81.0% at 550？nm.

Inventory of the Thermo-Physiological Behavior of Fabrics—A Review

A comprehensive literature review was performed to create an inventory of thermal-physiological quantities for fabrics from different fiber materials, material blends, and fabric structures. The goal was to derive over-arching concepts that cannot be seen by the individual studies alone. Equations of best fits suggest non-linear changes for fabric thickness, thermal and water-vapor resistance with changes in material blend ratio. Air permeability decreases with increasing fabric density and fabric weight wherein the degree of decrease differs among fabric materials, blend ratio, and fabric structure. Water-vapor transmission rates strongly depend on fabric thickness, material, and blend, but marginally depend on fabric structure as long as the fabric and material thickness remain the same.

Color-Changing Fabric System with Temperature Control

Color-changing fabric system with temperature control is designed through textile design and electronic technology.The system inserts a conductive fabric inside a fabric coated with thermochromic powder.A temperature control system is constructed to adjust the current to raise the temperature of conductive fabric to the active point of thermochromic powder and keep the temperature in stable.Therefore,the fabric could sense the temperature and change colors.In order to achieve wearability,mobile power supply is selected and flexible sensor is adopted.Kalman filter is engaged in the proportion integration differentiation(PID)control algorithm to reduce the interference of measurement noise.The experiment result shows that the proposed color-changing fabric system could reach the target temperature quickly and meet the design demands for color-changing.

Scalable Process to Develop Durable Conductive Cotton Fabric

Developing a scalable process is critical to manufacture conductive fabric for commercial applications.This paper describes a scalable coating process that is compatible with existing industrial finishing processes of fabrics.In this process,the fabric is continuously dipped in water-based metal salt and the reducing agent solution to impart conductive particles on the fiber surface.After 10 consecutive cycles of dip coating,the fabric shows 6Ω/in.of resistance.The process is tuned to minimize process cost and material cost,and maximize the durability of the fabric.This paper also introduces an easy protective coating technique of the conductive fabric that improves the durability of the conductive fabric without sacrificing the comfort properties of textile fabrics such as breathability and flexibility.The encapsulated conductive fabric shows good air-permeability and it is 6.96 cm^(3)/cm^(2)/s.Moreover,the conductivity of the encapsulated fabric is quite stable after four accelerated washing cycles.Additionally,the fabric remains conductive on the surfaces and is suitable for using as a conductive track and connectors.

Wearable sensors and supercapacitors using electroplated-Ni/ZnO antibacterial fabric

Herein,nickel nanocones and zinc oxide nanosheets were electroplated onto a fabric to produce multifunctional(wearable,stretchable,washable,hydrophobic,and antibacterial)materials with sensing,heating,and supercapacitive properties.All these functionalities are integrated into a one-layered fabric that can be used as a portable intelligent electronic textile for potential application in healthcare monitoring,smart sportswear,and energy storage.Electroplated nickel enhances the electrical conductivity and thus increases the electron charge transfer for supercapacitor applications.The integration of ZnO with the Ni-plated fabric provides pseudocapacitance via redox reactions with the electrolyte.The resistance of the Ni/ZnO fabric changes in response to external stimuli such as temperature and strain.When voltage is applied,the fabric generates heat through Joule heating,demonstrating its potential application as winter sportswear.The superior mechanical durability of the fabric was confirmed through bending and stretching tests.The hydrophobic surface prevents viruses contained in liquid droplets from infiltrating the fabric.In addition,bacterial growth is inhibited because of the antibacterial properties of the Ni/ZnO fabric and because of Joule heating.The one-layered fabric integrated with such multiple functionalities is expected to be applicable in the development of next-generation portable and wearable electronic textiles in various industries.

High-performance textile piezoelectric pressure sensor with novel structural hierarchy based on ZnO nanorods array for wearable application

With the increasing demand for smart wearable clothing, the textile piezoelectric pressure sensor (T-PEPS) that can harvest mechanical energy directly has attracted significant attention. However, the current challenge of T-PEPS lies in remaining the outstanding output performance without compromising its wearing comfort. Here, a novel structural hierarchy T-PEPS based on the single-crystalline ZnO nanorods are designed. The T-PEPS is constructed with three layers mode consisting of a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane, the top and bottom layers of conductive rGO polyester (PET) fabrics with self-orientation ZnO nanorods. As a result, the as-fabricated T-PEPS shows low detection limit up to 8.71 Pa, high output voltage to 11.47 V and superior mechanical stability. The sensitivity of the sensor is 0.62 V·kPa−1 in the pressure range of 0–2.25 kPa. Meanwhile, the T-PEPS is employed to detect human movements such as bending/relaxation motion of the wrist, bending/stretching motion of each finger. It is demonstrated that the T-PEPS can be up-scaled to promote the application of wearable sensor platforms and self-powered devices.