Tailored Copper Loading in rGO-Cu/Graphene Nanocomposites for Flexible Conductive E-Textile

Abstract

Abstract Flexible conductive e-textiles for advanced technological applications, such as flexible antennas, require high electrical conductivity, flexibility, and durability. The use of conductive strips made of metals gives higher electrical conductivity at the expense of low flexibility, whereas polymers or carbon-based materials offer higher flexibility with lower electrical conductivity. Hybrid materials, such as metal and graphene nanoparticles coated fabrics, can be a solution to achieve optimum performance. Herein, the preparation of rGO-copper/graphene nanocomposite and coating on the fabric is demonstrated to develop flexible e-textiles. The ratio of copper (Cu) vs. graphene (Gr) is optimized, and structural analysis reveals that Cu nanoparticles are uniformly distributed on the surface of graphene layers. A higher amount of Cu shows higher aggregation of Cu nanoparticles and effectively fills the gaps between the graphene layers, resulting in higher packing. While a lower amount of Cu shows better locking of the Cu nanoparticles between the graphene sheets, and reduces the possibility of Cu nanoparticles oxidation. The lower amount of Cu in the composite results in higher flexibility and lower electrical conductivity. The developed e-textile with 31 wt% of Cu nanoparticles offer an optimum resistivity of 0.016 Ω-cm and flexural rigidity of 568 mg-cm. Fabrics coated with the nanocomposite having a higher Cu amount show higher resistance to bending and higher degradation after washing.