New Material: Nylon And Reduced Graphene Oxide Smart Clothing Can Conduct Electricity And Be Washed

Tomsk University of Technology in Russia has developed a new "smart clothing" material based on nylon fabric and reduced graphene oxide. This hybrid textile can maintain its characteristics and conductivity during washing, which makes it possible to manufacture textile sensor platforms. The research results were published in the recent ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces magazine of the American Chemical Society.

Textile electronics have an advantage over flexible polymer devices because textiles are in close contact with the skin. A comfortable, portable and compact sensor can read pulse, pressure and other human indicators.

The chemical and biomedical technology research team of Tomsk University of Technology has developed a hybrid conductive material based on synthetic fabrics. They coated nylon with graphene oxide and then laser treated it. The resulting composite is easy to manufacture and remains stable even after multiple washings.

The researchers said that during the laser treatment, nylon will melt, which will not only form a coating, but also graphene particles will be embedded in the fabric fibers. This ensures that the mechanical properties of the resulting composite material are improved, making it resistant to ultrasonic waves, stretching and detergent washing, so that it can be used to modify daily clothes. After laser treatment, this material becomes conductive and can be used as an active material for sensors. It is particularly important that this arbitrarily shaped structure can be used as a finished product without additional protection or insulation. Silver nanoparticles can also be used to make the textiles have antibacterial properties.

The researchers said that the deposited silver particles have unique optical properties of plasmon particles. This makes hybrid textiles promising for manufacturing optical sensors. They carried out a series of successful experiments with the help of silver to detect substances such as model dyes and glucose.

During the experiment, the researchers embedded sensors in gloves made of nylon, spandex and polyester blends, and tested the possibility of using composite materials as sensors to record gestures, measure heart rate in real time, and recognize speech. The experimental results pave the way for developing a multi-sensor platform that can be directly integrated into daily use organizations.