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Washable, durable and flame retardant conductive textiles based on reduced graphene oxide modification

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Abstract

Graphene has been highlighted in a variety of wearable electronics and smart textiles applications due to its unique properties such as high conductivity, transparency, flexibility and other excellent mechanical performance. Although there have been extensive efforts for graphene based conductive fibers/yarns, there are remaining challenges in terms of the seamless integration between 2D flakes, and reduced charge transport in a lower carrier concentration. Unstable resistance probably arises from the creation of gaps in the conductive parts of the smart textile. Also, regional temperatures can get too high, constituting a fire-safety hazard and endangering the wearer's safety. In this work, the synergistic effect of graphene and flame-retardant materials was investigated, and a conductive fabric was developed which is highly conductive and flame retardancy. Graphene has excellent electrical and thermal conductivity and acts synergistically with traditional flame-retardants on common fabrics. The electrical surface resistivity of hybrid material modified fabrics was as low as 0.54 kΩ/sq, so they could serve as safe and highly conductive conductor in a simple circuit and show excellent wash-ability. The limiting oxygen index of the fabric increased from 19 to 32 after modification in conjunction with the residue at 800 °C increased from 17.9 to 31%, which could be used as safe and highly conductive materials for smart textiles and wearable devices.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the financial assistance provided by National Key R&D Program of China (No. 2017YFB0309000) and National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51672141).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Textiles and Clothing, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266071, Shandong, China

    Yintao Zhao, Jin Wang, Zengqing Li, Mingwei Tian, Xiansheng Zhang, Lijun Qu & Shifeng Zhu

  2. Research Center for Intelligent and Wearable Technology, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266071, Shandong, China

    Yintao Zhao, Jin Wang, Zengqing Li, Mingwei Tian, Xiansheng Zhang, Lijun Qu & Shifeng Zhu

  3. State Key Laboratory of Bio-Fibers and Eco-Textiles, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266071, Shandong, China

    Yintao Zhao, Jin Wang, Zengqing Li, Mingwei Tian, Xiansheng Zhang, Lijun Qu & Shifeng Zhu

  4. School of Materials, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK

    Xuqing Liu

  5. Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695-8301, USA

    Xiangwu Zhang

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  1. Yintao Zhao
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  2. Jin Wang
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  3. Zengqing Li
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  4. Xiangwu Zhang
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  8. Lijun Qu
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  9. Shifeng Zhu
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Correspondence to Shifeng Zhu.

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Zhao, Y., Wang, J., Li, Z. et al. Washable, durable and flame retardant conductive textiles based on reduced graphene oxide modification. Cellulose 27, 1763–1771 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-019-02884-1

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