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Water-repellent flexible fabric strain sensor based on polyaniline/titanium dioxide-coated knit polyester fabric

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Abstract

A flexible fabric strain sensor was prepared by in situ chemical polymerization of aniline on knit polyester fabric surface in aqueous acid solutions using ammonium persulfate as an oxidant. Furthermore, the optimum addition ratio of titanium dioxide (TiO2) in polyaniline (PANI) in the granular conductive network membrane was investigated. The morphological, structural, thermal, electrical, strain-sensing, and water-repellent properties of the polyester knit fabrics modified with PANI and PANI/TiO2 hybrid were analyzed. The surface electrical resistance of PANI/TiO2 conductive films on the knit fabric was higher than that of pristine PANI, which was due to the particle blocking the conduction path effect caused by TiO2 embedded in the PANI matrix. However, it was further found that the addition of TiO2 could improve the durability properties of flexible fabric strain sensor against cycles of elongation, though with a little loss in electrical conductivity and sensitivity. Moreover, the water-repellent property was evaluated by measuring water contact angles. The results showed that for PANI/TiO2 nanocomposites-coated flexible fabric strain sensor, a desirable level of contact angle (127.5° ± 1.7°) was even preserved at 121.8° ± 2.6° after 100 cycles of elongation. This indicated that the flexible fabric strain sensor had rather high water-repellent efficiency and excellent durability during the elongation cycles.

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Acknowledgments

This work is supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 51273097 and 51306095), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation via Grant No. 2014M561887 and Taishan Scholars Construction Engineering of Shandong Province, program for scientific research innovation team in colleges and universities of Shandong Province, Collaborative Innovation Center for Marine Biomass Fibers, Materials and Textiles of Shandong Province.

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    Authors and Affiliations

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

      Xiaoning Tang, Mingwei Tian, Lijun Qu, Shifeng Zhu, Xiaoqing Guo & Kaikai Sun

    2. Laboratory of New Fiber Materials and Modern Textile, the Growing Base for State Key Laboratory, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266071, Shandong, China

      Xiaoning Tang, Mingwei Tian, Lijun Qu, Shifeng Zhu, Xiaoqing Guo, Guangting Han & Kaikai Sun

    3. Collaborative Innovation Center for Marine Biomass Fibers, Materials and Textiles of Shandong Province, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266071, Shandong, China

      Mingwei Tian, Lijun Qu, Xiaoqing Guo & Guangting Han

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    1. Xiaoning Tang
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    Correspondence to Mingwei Tian or Lijun Qu.

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    X. Tang and M. Tian have contributed equally to this paper.

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    Tang, X., Tian, M., Qu, L. et al. Water-repellent flexible fabric strain sensor based on polyaniline/titanium dioxide-coated knit polyester fabric. Iran Polym J 24, 697–704 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13726-015-0361-0

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    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13726-015-0361-0

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