Self-assembly of single walled carbon nanotubes onto cotton to make conductive yarn--颗粒学报PARTICUOLOGY

Zhang, W., Tan, Y. Y., Wu, C., & Silva, S. R. P. (2012). Self-assembly of single walled carbon nanotubes onto cotton to make conductive yarn. Particuology, 10(4), 517–521. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2011.06.011

Self-assembly of single walled carbon nanotubes onto cotton to make conductive yarn

Wei Zhang ^{a b *}, Yee Yuan Tan ^a, Chengwei Wu ^c, S. Ravi P. Silva ^a

a Nanoelectronics Centre, Advanced Technology Institute, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, United Kingdom
b School of Materials Science and Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
c State Key Laboratory of Structural Analysis for Industrial Equipment, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China

10.1016/j.partic.2011.06.011

Volume 10, Issue 4, August 2012, Pages 517-521

Received 2 March 2011, Revised 18 June 2011, Accepted 28 June 2011, Available online 11 March 2012.

E-mail: wei.zhang@dlut.edu.cn

Highlights

► Poly(ethylene imine) treated cotton yarn is immersed in the single walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) dispersion in Acid Red 91 solution to make SWCNTs self-assembled onto the yarn.

► The SWCNT functionalized yarn exhibits electrically conductive behaviour.

► The obtained yarn is used to make chemiresistor for detecting ammonia gas.

Abstract

A simple, economical and scalable technique is demonstrated to make conductive yarn. Single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are non-covalently functionalized with dye (Acid Red 91) and dispersed in water; while cotton yarn is treated with poly (ethylene imine). When the resulting yarn is immersed in the SWCNT dispersion, SWCNTs self-assemble onto the yarn due to electrostatic forces between the functionalized nanotubes and yarn. Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy indicate the assembly of carbon nanotubes. The SWCNT functionalized yarn exhibits reasonable electrical conduction behaviour and are then used to make chemiresistors. The electrical resistance of the chemiresistors used as sensors increases on exposure to ammonia gas, which can be explained in terms of electron transfer between gas molecules and SWCNTs.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Carbon nanotubes; Electrical conduction; Sensor; Ammonia

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