The Influence of Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes on the Electrical Properties of Polyaniline Fibre

E-textiles (textiles with electronic functionality) are being developed for health, communication, entertainment and safety applications [1]. Sensors, processing elements, actuators and/or energy storage units are being integrated into textile substrates [2]. Integration of electronic components into textiles can be achieved by miniaturization of metallic electronic components and attachment to textiles. Mostly, the current E-textiles employ metallic based conducting fibre and micro electronic devices which are interconnected by soldering, gluing and encapsulation of joints. These current versions use integrated wiring and carrying devices that add bulk and weight to the garments making them uncomfortable for daily use. These items are also expensive with respect to maintenance and user safety.Incorporation of electronic devices into flexible textiles can be improved by development of organic based inherently conducting fibres with electronic functionalities. Such fibres would have physical properties similar to and/or compatible with more conventional textile fibres. In this regard two promising candidates are polyaniline (PAni) and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTS).In this work electrically conducting PAni fibers containing MWNTs as reinforcing material were successfully spun from a spinning solution prepared from the PAni protonated with 2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid (AMPSA) in dichloroacetic acid (DCAA) as a solvent by a wet-spinning process, in which the acetone was used as a coagulant. The fibres produced from this spinning solution show excellent electronic properties suitable for many electronic textile applications, including artificial muscle fibres