SWCNTs/PEDOT: PSS Coated Cotton for Wearable Clothes and Supercapacitor Applications

Abstract

Herein, we report single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNT)/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT: PSS) loading on the transparency and conductivity of pure cotton and systematically studied using a four-probe stack made of copper (Cu) which showed a surface resistance of 0.08 Ω/cm. Moreover, the treated cotton cloth retained its maximum resistance even after three months. Surface morphology was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and elemental structure analysis was performed by energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), while the structural analysis was performed using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques, confirming that there is a good dispersion of SWCNTs/PEDOT: PSS in the cotton sample. The composite cotton/hydrogel polymer/composite cotton achieved a specific capacitance of 212.16 F/g at 50 mV/s. Thermal properties were also investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scale calorimetry (DSC). The low surface resistance and thermal stability show that cotton fabric can be a promising candidate for smart wearable textiles and modern circuitry applications.