Highly stretchable durable electro-thermal conductive yarns made by deposition of carbon nanotubes

Abstract

The polymer yarns are originally electrical insulators. Their structure does not provide valence electrons to conduct electrical current. The coating of carbon nanotubes (CNT) over the nylon yarn enables it to become a good conductor of heat and electricity. The objective of present study is to impart the electrical conductivity to the Nylon 6/Spandex yarn by coating the CNT. The physical properties of CNTs were studied by SEM analysis. The electrical properties of CNT coated yarns were investigated in relaxed and stretched state. The conductive yarns showed low resistance under high stretch load. Furthermore, the heating performance of the CNT coated yarns was analyzed by applying the different range of voltages at the surface of the yarns. The maximum temperature of about 280 °C was recorded when the applied voltages were 5 V for 60 min. Moreover, the durability of CNT coated yarns was observed against severe washing. The yarns showed good retention of the CNT even after severe washing, as proved by a very small loss in the electrical conductivity of the yarns.

KEYWORDS:

• Coatings
• nanotubes
• smart textiles
• conductive yarn

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding

This work was supported by project “Modular platform for autonomous chassis of specialized electric vehicles for freight and equipment transportation”, Reg. No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/16_025/0007293.