A Carbon-Nanotubes-Based Heating Fabric CO761—768Mposite for Automotive Applications

Abstract

The preparation and properties of a composite fabric material containing carbon nanotubes and polyaniline with a suitable elec- trical conductivity to be potentially used as a resistive heating element in car seats are reported. Three different materials that are the most commonly used fabrics in cars, i.e., leather, cotton canvas and artificial leather, were screen-printed on the bottom side of the fabric with flexible and highly conductive single-wall carbon nanotubes and polyaniline-containing coatings. The thickness and accordingly the electrical conductivity of the coatings were tailored with the number of screen-printed layers. The conductivity was explained with the percolation model, where the percolation threshold was found to be at 8 screen-printed lay- ers. The morphology and uniformity of the coatings were studied with electron-microscopy techniques. Long interconnected bundles of carbon nanotubes and polyaniline fibres made possible a suitable electrical conductivity, even when the fabric was stretched. When heated, the temperature distribution across the surface was measured with an IR camera and was uniform to within a few degrees centigrade. Samples of the prepared fabric material enabled uniform heating up to 50 °C within two minutes using around 3W of electrical power.