Electrically Conducting Cellulose Yarns for Electronic Textiles
Doctoral thesis, 2023
Wearable electronics can be used for the purpose of fitness tracking, health monitoring, energy harvesting, and even for communication. Electronic textiles (e-textiles) are a versatile platform which can be employed for the realization of wearable electronics. E-textiles present an opportunity to incorporate electronics into textiles while also maintaining the feel and wearability of textile materials. To fabricate e-textile devices, electrically conducting yarns can be used as building blocks. It is of importance to use materials that are lightweight, benign, and scalable to enable the widespread use of e-textiles. Electrically conducting yarn can be produced by combining conducting, semiconducting and insulating materials. For energy harvesting applications, textile thermoelectric generators are of interest since these can utilize the temperature gradient between the body and the ambient surroundings to generate electrical energy.
This thesis discusses several strategies for the development of electrically conducting yarns,
which were based on conducting polymers and regenerated cellulose yarns. Hole- and electron-transporting conducting polymer-based yarns were realized for the fabrication of textile thermoelectric generators. Various methods to characterize conducting yarns were explored to evaluate properties of interest for e-textile devices, such as procedures for measuring the electrical resistance and the Seebeck coefficient of the yarns. Furthermore, the electrical stability of the yarns was investigated upon washing and bending, to assess if the produced yarns could withstand textile processing and use. Several p-type polymer-based yarns were produced. P-type polymer-based coated cellulose yarns that were generated through a roll-to-roll process showed a record-high bulk conductivity of 36 S cm-1 for cellulose based conducting yarn. The durability was demonstrated by machine sewing the yarns into a substrate fabric for thermoelectric device fabrication. Furthermore, this thesis introduces the first example of n-type polymer-based yarns, which were produced by spray-coating regenerated cellulose yarns. The p-type and n-type polymer-based coated cellulose yarns enabled the fabrication of an all polymer-based thermoelectric textile device.
The presented methods are scalable and resulted in conducting yarns with resilient electrical properties that could be used for the fabrication of e-textile devices. The demonstrated conducting polymer-based yarns present new opportunities for further development of textile polymer-based thermoelectric generators.
This thesis discusses several strategies for the development of electrically conducting yarns,
which were based on conducting polymers and regenerated cellulose yarns. Hole- and electron-transporting conducting polymer-based yarns were realized for the fabrication of textile thermoelectric generators. Various methods to characterize conducting yarns were explored to evaluate properties of interest for e-textile devices, such as procedures for measuring the electrical resistance and the Seebeck coefficient of the yarns. Furthermore, the electrical stability of the yarns was investigated upon washing and bending, to assess if the produced yarns could withstand textile processing and use. Several p-type polymer-based yarns were produced. P-type polymer-based coated cellulose yarns that were generated through a roll-to-roll process showed a record-high bulk conductivity of 36 S cm-1 for cellulose based conducting yarn. The durability was demonstrated by machine sewing the yarns into a substrate fabric for thermoelectric device fabrication. Furthermore, this thesis introduces the first example of n-type polymer-based yarns, which were produced by spray-coating regenerated cellulose yarns. The p-type and n-type polymer-based coated cellulose yarns enabled the fabrication of an all polymer-based thermoelectric textile device.
The presented methods are scalable and resulted in conducting yarns with resilient electrical properties that could be used for the fabrication of e-textile devices. The demonstrated conducting polymer-based yarns present new opportunities for further development of textile polymer-based thermoelectric generators.
electronic textiles
textiles
conjugated polymers
regenerated cellulose yarns
electrical properties
electrically conducting yarns
organic thermoelectrics
10:an, Kemigården 4
Opponent: Esma Ismailova, Ecole des Mines de Saint-Étienne
Author
Sozan Darabi
Chalmers, Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Applied Chemistry
Green Conducting Cellulose Yarns for Machine-Sewn Electronic Textiles
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces,; Vol. 12(2020)p. 56403-56412
Journal article
A polymer-based textile thermoelectric generator for wearable energy harvesting
Journal of Power Sources,; Vol. 480(2020)
Journal article
Machine-Washable Conductive Silk Yarns with a Composite Coating of Ag Nanowires and PEDOT:PSS
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces,; Vol. 12(2020)p. 27537-27544
Journal article
Darabi, S.; Yang, C.-Y.; Li, Z.; Huang, J.-D.; Hummel, M.; Sixta, H.; Fabiano, S.; Müller, C., Polymer-Based n-Type Yarn for Organic Thermoelectric Textiles. Adv. Electron. Mater. 2023.
Mone, M. Darabi, S. Zokaei, S. Craighero, M. Karlsson, L. Kroon, R. Müller, C., Reinforcing of a Polar Polythiophene with Cellulose Nanofibrils
Textiles surround us in our everyday lives and these textile materials provide us with warmth, comfort and style. The utility of textiles can be further enhanced with the addition of electronic functionality for the fabrication of electronic textiles (e-textiles). Wearable electronic e-textile devices can be employed for health monitoring and energy harvesting. By for example integrating health monitoring devices into fabrics vital signs can be collected while also maintaining the feel and wearability of textiles. Energy harvesting textiles have the potential to be used for powering other e-textile devices. For energy harvesting, textile thermoelectric generators are of interest since these could utilize the temperature gradient between the body and the ambient surroundings to generate electrical energy.
Electrically conducting yarns can be used as building blocks for e-textile manufacturing. The conducting yarns can be composed of a conducting, semiconducting and insulating material in various combinations depending on the intended use. This thesis explores the combination of these materials for the preparation of electrically conducting yarns. Emphasis was placed on using materials that are scalable, lightweight, and benign to enable the widespread use of e-textiles. Therefore, cellulose-based yarns sourced from wood and conducting polymers, which are organic materials that can conduct electricity, were used to produce electrically conducting yarns. The fabrication of both hole- and electron-transporting conducting polymer-based yarns was explored for the manufacturing of polymer-based textile thermoelectric generators. Further, the electrical resilience of conducting yarns against wash and wear was investigated to evaluate the capability of the produced materials to withstand textile processing and use. Prototype thermoelectric e-textile devices were fabricated to illustrate the functionality of the produced electrically conducting yarns.
This thesis presents scalable methods for producing electrically conducting yarns, with resilient electrical properties that allow textile manufacturing. The scalable methods can accelerate the potential commercialization of robust wearable electronic devices. In addition, the conducting polymer-based yarns present new opportunities for further development of polymer-based textile thermoelectric generators.
Electrically conducting yarns can be used as building blocks for e-textile manufacturing. The conducting yarns can be composed of a conducting, semiconducting and insulating material in various combinations depending on the intended use. This thesis explores the combination of these materials for the preparation of electrically conducting yarns. Emphasis was placed on using materials that are scalable, lightweight, and benign to enable the widespread use of e-textiles. Therefore, cellulose-based yarns sourced from wood and conducting polymers, which are organic materials that can conduct electricity, were used to produce electrically conducting yarns. The fabrication of both hole- and electron-transporting conducting polymer-based yarns was explored for the manufacturing of polymer-based textile thermoelectric generators. Further, the electrical resilience of conducting yarns against wash and wear was investigated to evaluate the capability of the produced materials to withstand textile processing and use. Prototype thermoelectric e-textile devices were fabricated to illustrate the functionality of the produced electrically conducting yarns.
This thesis presents scalable methods for producing electrically conducting yarns, with resilient electrical properties that allow textile manufacturing. The scalable methods can accelerate the potential commercialization of robust wearable electronic devices. In addition, the conducting polymer-based yarns present new opportunities for further development of polymer-based textile thermoelectric generators.
Subject Categories
Polymer Chemistry
Materials Chemistry
ISBN
978-91-7905-789-3
Doktorsavhandlingar vid Chalmers tekniska högskola. Ny serie: 5255
Publisher
Chalmers
10:an, Kemigården 4
Opponent: Esma Ismailova, Ecole des Mines de Saint-Étienne