Multifunctional silver nanowire coated fabric capable of electrothermal, resistance temperature-sensitivity, electromagnetic interference shielding, and strain sensing

Abstract

The integration of high conductive networks and textiles has become a favorable technical route to fulfill the objectives of wearable electronics. Herein, high stretchable and recoverable PET fabric coated with a layer of silver nanowire network by a simple and scalable polyol-method is provided. The electrothermal performance, resistance temperature-sensitivity, electromagnetic shielding performance, strain sensing, and washability of silver nanowire (AgNWs)/PET fabrics with different coating times were performed. The conductivity of the fabric coated AgNWs of 2.8 mg/cm2 is as high as 175 S/m, the EMI shielding effectiveness is 37 dB, and it gives a highly sensitive strain response to human movement (gauge factor of −6.16 under 10% strain) and an underwater oil repellent angle of 125°. The heating temperature can reach above 100°C within 27 s under an applied current of 0.10 A. In addition, an excellent linearity of the resistance temperature-sensitive behavior for AgNWs/PET fabrics is obtained, and fabric Ag-5 gives a negative temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) of −0.05%/°C. Knitted fabric with multi-function is obtained by use of silver nanowire coating. This method provides a simple, low-cost and easy-to-scalable process for the production of electronic textiles, such as fabric heater, microwave blocker, sensor, and other technologies.