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Nanoarchitectonics of cross-linked densified carbon nanotube yarn for stable conductivity and strain sensing

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Abstract

Electrical strain sensing and e-heating at low voltage with high stability is indeed an essential element for wearable smart textiles. These sensors can be used to detect slight changes in electrical signal due to small deformation caused by mechanical changes such as throat vibration, heart pulse, and body movement. Herein, we demonstrate a simple and systematic tactic to fabricate a carbon nanotube yarn (CNT yarn, CNTY) with excellent strength and superior electrical conductivity. We analyzed different crucial parameters to enhance the sensing response of CNTY by cross-linking method. A novel combined strategy was used to prepare cross-linked and densified CNTY for conductive properties. The modified CNTY showed enhanced sensing properties with a gauge factor improvement from 1.3 to 2.1 at ~ 3% strain. Furthermore, we also assessed the strain sensing behavior of CNTY sewed in the textiles garment. It was noticed that these modifications with cross-linking and densification provide a significant improvement in e-heating properties which open a new path to design and develop smart textiles with combined features.

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Acknowledgements

Author would like to thank the Shanghai Natural Science Foundation and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities for their financial support.

Funding

This research work was funded by Shanghai Frontier Science Research Center for Modern Textiles, Donghua University, the Shanghai Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. 20ZR1402200) and Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2232021G-01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Shanghai Frontier Science Research Center for Modern Textiles, Donghua University, Shanghai, 201620, P. R. China

    Sidra Saleemi & Fujun Xu

  2. Institute of Polymer and Textile Engineering, University of the Punjab, Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, 54590, Pakistan

    Sidra Saleemi & Hafiz Abdul Mannan

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  1. Sidra Saleemi
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  2. Hafiz Abdul Mannan
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  3. Fujun Xu
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S.S. conceptualization, experiment, data collection, analysis, writing, editing. H.A.M. writing, editing. F.X. funding, reviewing, editing, and supervising. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Fujun Xu.

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Saleemi, S., Mannan, H.A. & Xu, F. Nanoarchitectonics of cross-linked densified carbon nanotube yarn for stable conductivity and strain sensing. J Mater Sci: Mater Electron 34, 24 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10854-022-09452-7

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