Preparation and characterization of multi-walled carbon nanotubes-filled cotton fabrics
Fahad Alhashmi Alamer, Modhi A. Alnefaie, Mohamed Abdel Salam
Abstract
Herein we report the preparation and characterization of conductive cotton fabric prepared by a one-step simple method; drop casting and drying, using different weight concentrations of multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) dispersed in dimethylformamide (DMF). The conductive MWCNTs cotton fabrics were characterized with different chemical and physical techniques to explore their structure, morphological features and the electrical properties by measuring the sheet resistance. The changes in sheet resistance of the conductive MWCNTs cotton fabrics were monitored as a function of MWCNTs concentration and temperature, and low sheet resistance of 15.92 Ω/sq could be achieved and the conductive MWCNTs cotton fabrics showed semiconductor behavior. Also, it was observed that the sheet resistance significantly decreased with increasing the MWCNTs concentration (sheet resistant α [MWCNTs]−1.5). A simulation study suggested that this behavior was explained by nearest neighbor interaction between the particles of MWCNTs.