Manufacturing Organic Environmentally Friendly Electrical Circuits Using the Composites’ Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes and PEDOT:PSS

Abstract

Herein, several different methods of preparation to explore the thermal and electrical properties of cotton fabric impregnated with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and poly (3,4 ethylenedioxy thiophene) poly(styrenesul-fonate) (PEDOT:PSS) are used. The SWCNTs and PEDOT:PSS are delivered by the drop-casting technique either as a mixture of these constituents or as a series of steps in which each constituent is added sequentially. The primary finding is that lower sheet resistances can be achieved by applying the constituents in sequence rather than as a mixture. For example, given fixed amounts of SWCNTs and PEDOT:PSS delivered as a mixture have sheet resistance 2.158 Ω cm−1, but when the same amounts are delivered in the order SWCNTs followed by PEDOT: PSS, the sheet resistance is reduced to 0.985 Ω cm−1, and when this order is reversed, the sheet resistance is further reduced to 0.633 Ω cm−1. Finally, when the same total amounts of SWCNTs and PEDOT:PSS are delivered in the order SWCNTs followed by PEDOT:PSS, followed by SWCNTs, the sheet resistance is further reduced to 0.342 Ω cm−1. Sheet resistances of the conductive cotton fabric are found to be stable over a period of 4 months at room temperature.