Nano Research

DOI 10.1007/s12274-014-0649-y

Highly stretchable, electrically conductive textiles

fabricated from silver nanowires and cupro fabrics
using a simple dipping–drying method
Hui-Wang Cui1 (), Katsuaki Suganuma1, and Hiroshi Uchida2

1
Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, Osaka University, Mihogaoka 8-1, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047, Japan
2
Institute for Polymers and Chemicals Business Development Center, Showa Denko K. K., 5-1 Yawata Kaigan Dori, Ichihara, Chiba
290-0067, Japan

Received: 7 October 2014 ABSTRACT

Revised: 11 November 2014 In this study, we combined silver nanowires with cupro fabrics using a dipping–
Accepted: 19 November 2014 drying method to prepare electrically conductive fabrics. The silver nanowires
were first adhered to and then absorbed by microfibers to form electrically
© Tsinghua University Press conductive fibers. They also filled the gaps and spaces between the microfibers,
and Springer-Verlag Berlin and were stacked or piled together to form networks with high electrical
Heidelberg 2014 conductivity. The electrically conductive fabric had low resistance and good
stretchability, e.g., 0.0047–0.0091 Ω in the strain range of 0–190%. They also
KEYWORDS exhibited stable electrical conductivity, as well as excellent flexibility, which
fabrics/textiles, remained even when the fabric was stretched, shrunk, or bent. The results show
metals, that the electrically conductive fabric can be used as a smart textile, especially in
smart materials, fields associated with weaving, clothing, food products, lifestyle products,
electrical properties medicine, biology, electronics, aviation, and military equipment and accessories.

1 Introduction of functional smart textiles, e.g., thermostatic textiles,

Smart textiles, a class of fabric integrated by
multidisciplinary knowledge on textiles, electronics,
chemistry, physics, mechanics, biology, medicine, etc.,
are based on the concept of biomimicry to simulate
life systems. They serve dual functions of effectively
perceiving and responding to various changes and
stimuli from the environment, such as mechanical
forces, heat, light, temperature, electromagnetic forces,
chemicals, and biological odors. Until now, a variety
physiological-state telemetry textiles, solar textiles,
shape-memory textiles, waterproof and moisture-
permeable textiles, color-changing textiles, and E-smart
textiles, have been developed. Among them, E-smart
textiles are a class of novel textiles based on electronics
and the integration of high-tech solutions such as
sensing, telecommunications, and artificial intelligence
into fabrics. While E-smart textile applications have
made limited commercial impact so far, with relatively
small volumes of commercial products launched

Address correspondence to cuihuiwang@hotmail.com

2 Nano Res.

primarily in the high-performance apparel sector, the 2 Experimental

overall market is predicted to grow significantly. As
cutting-edge technologies such as microelectronics, 2.1 Samples
nanotechnology, and biotechnology become deeply
First, AgNWs were synthesized on a large scale
integrated, E-smart textiles are one of the most dynamic
according to previously reported procedures of the
and fast growing sectors with many opportunities for
polyol process [26, 27]. They were 60–100 μm in length,
innovation [1–2].
and their diameter was ~60 nm. The AgNWs were
The preparation of electrically conductive fabrics
dispersed in ethanol to form a 0.5% suspension
(also called electrically conductive fibers) is the key to
(Fig. 1(a)). The textile selected for the study, measuring
producing E-smart textiles. The methods of coating [3],
100 mm × 100 mm × 250 μm, was a cellulosic product,
deposition [4], spinning [5], printing [6], synthesis [7],
a cupro fabric named BEMCOTTM M-3 (Asahi Kasei
dipping [8], and solution growing [9] have been
Fibers Corporation, Tokyo, Japan). The fabrication
widely used to fabricate electrically conductive fabrics
process of the electrically conductive fabric is illustrated
from conductive polymers such as polypyrrole [10],
in Fig. 1(a). Samples of the pure fabric were dipped
polyaniline [11], a mixture of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxy- into the AgNW suspension for about 2 h and then
thiophene) and poly(4-styrenesulfonate) [12]), metal
particles (e.g., Ag [13], Cu [14], Ni [15], Al [16], Zn [17]),
and carbon fillers (e.g., graphite nanoplatelets [18] and
carbon nanotubes [19]). In particular, Ag particles are
often used for Ag-based smart textiles. For example,
Xue et al. produced Ag nanoparticles on cotton fibers
by reducing the [Ag(NH3)2]+ complex with glucose,
and the Ag nanoparticles formed a dense coating
around the fibers, rendering the intrinsically insulating
cotton fabric conductive [20]. Paul et al. fabricated
electrodes from electrically conductive fabrics. They
first printed a polyurethane paste on a woven textile
to create a smooth interface with high surface energy
and then printed a Ag paste on top of this interface
layer to provide a conductive track, which was then
encapsulated with another layer of polyurethane paste
to protect the Ag-track from abrasion and creasing
[21, 22]. Apparently, the use of silver nanowires
(AgNWs), which have a large aspect ratio and higher
flexibility than Ag particles [23–25], to fabricate smart Figure 1 (a) Fabrication process of electrically conductive textiles;
textiles has seldom been reported. Therefore, in this the inset shows scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of
the grid-like structures of the pure fabric and the electrically
study, we combined AgNWs with cupro fabrics using
conductive fabric. (b) Sample (50 mm × 10 mm × 250 μm) of the
a dipping–drying method to prepare electrically con- electrically conductive fabric. (c) SEM images of the electrically
ductive fabrics (Fig. 1(a)). The AgNWs were adhered conductive fibers and the electrically conductive networks formed
to and absorbed on microfibers to form electrically between them; the inset shows high-magnification images of the
conductive fibers. They were also filled into the gaps electrically conductive fibers and electrically conductive networks.
(d) Stretch, break, and stress areas, as well as the directions of
and spaces between microfibers and stacked or piled
force on the electrically conductive fabric at 210% strain; the SEM
together to form the electrically conductive networks. images in the inset show the disorderly bundle structures, the
As a result, high electrical conductivity was imparted electrically conductive fibers, and the torn electrically conductive
to the electrically conductive fabrics. networks.

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Nano Res.
dried at room temperature to completely volatilize the
ethanol, to obtain samples of the electrically conductive
fabric.
2.2 Characterization
Wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXRD) data were
collected on an area detector with a curved imaging
plate (RINT RAPID, Rigaku Corporation, Tokyo, Japan)
using Mo Kα radiation (λ = 1.54 Å) at 40 kV and 30 mA
for 10 min. The thermal degradation of the samples
was measured using a thermogravimetric analyzer
(TGA; 2000SE/H/24/1, NETZSCH, Selb, Germany) that
was operated under a pure N2 atmosphere. The sample
(~10 mg) was placed in a Pt cell and heated at a rate
of 10 °C·min–1 from 30 to 900 °C under N2 flowing at
a rate of 60 mL·min–1. Scanning electron microscopic
(SEM) images of the samples were recorded using a
field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM;
SU8020, Hitachi, Tokyo, Japan) operating at an
accelerating voltage of 5 kV and an accelerating current
of 2 μA. Figure S1 in the Electronic Supplementary
Material (ESM) shows the experimental setup to mea-
sure the electrical resistance during tensile stretching.
The samples (50 mm × 10 mm × 250 μm) (Figs. 1(b)
and S1 in the ESM) were uniaxially stretched to 210%
strain at a rate of 1 mm·min–1 using an compact table-
top universal tester (EZ test, Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan).
The distance between the two chucks on the tester
was 30 mm at the beginning. The electrical resistance
of the samples during tensile stretching was measured
by the four-point probe method, using a multimeter
(34410A, Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, California,
USA) and a Kelvin probe (11059A, Agilent Technologies).
3 Results and discussion
As shown in Fig. 1(a), the white pure textile, before it
was dipped into the AgNWs suspension, had loose
grid-like structures, and the grid frameworks consisted
of hundreds of microfibers, which were physically
knitted together (SEM image in the inset of Fig. 1(a)).
After the samples were dipped into the AgNWs
suspension, they became electrically conductive and
the color turned silver gray. Compared to the pure
fabric, the electrically conductive fabric exhibited peaks
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at diffraction angles (2θ) of 37.98°, 43.94°, 64.07°,
77.61°, and 81.58° in the WAXRD patterns, which
correspond to the characteristic diffraction peaks of
(111), (200), (220), (311), and (222), respectively, for
AgNWs (Fig. 2(a)). The char yield of the pure fabric
was 7% at temperatures up to 900 °C, while that of the
electrically conductive fabric was 40%, which shows
that the electrically conductive fabric samples contained
~ 30% AgNWs (Fig. 2(b)). The electrically conductive
fabric samples had more apparent grid-like structures
than the pure fabric samples. It appeared that the
AgNWs played a role in densely bonding the hundreds
of microfibers to form the solid grid frameworks
(Fig. 1(a) and the SEM image in the inset). AgNWs
were absorbed and adhered on the microfibers by
physical effects to form the electrically conductive
fibers (Fig. 1(c) and the SEM image in the inset). In
addition, the AgNWs also filled the gaps and spaces
between these microfibers and were stacked or piled
together to form the electrically conductive networks
(Fig. 1(c) and the inset SEM image). These electrically
conductive fibers and networks accounted for the
high electrical conductivity of the resulting electrically
conductive fabric.
The electrical resistance was closely related to the
electrically conductive channels: More electrically
conductive channels mean lower electrical resistance
[28, 29]. In the electrically conductive fabric, the
electrically conductive channels consisted of electrically
conductive fibers and networks. The AgNW-covered
Figure 2 (a) WAXRD patterns and (b) TGA traces of the pure
fabric and electrically conductive fabric.
Research
4 Nano Res.
electrically conductive fibers and stacked-AgNW
electrically conductive networks increased the number
of electrically conductive channels to generate low
electrical resistance of the electrically conductive textile.
Figure 3 shows the electrical resistance of the
electrically conductive fabric as a function of the
stretching strain. At 0% strain, i.e., when the fabric was
unstretched, the electrical resistance was 0.0047 Ω; it
increased very slowly with increasing strain, reaching
0.0067 Ω at 180% strain and 0.0091 Ω at 190% strain.
The change in electrical resistance was so small that it
can almost be considered a constant value in the strain
range of 0–190%. The electrical resistance increased
to 0.0274 Ω at 200% strain and then sharply to the
highest value of 112.1649 Ω at 210% strain in all the
tests of this study.
The electrically conductive fabric showed low
electrical resistance, which was closely related to
changes in the grid-like structures during stretching.
After the uniaxial force was applied, the electrically
conductive fabric samples were stretched gradually
at a rate of 1 mm·min–1. They displayed two different
stretching states, called stretch areas and stress areas,
in the strain range of 0–190%, and three different
stretching states, called stretch areas, break areas, and
stress areas, in the strain range of 200–210% (Figs. 1(d)
and 4). As each fabric sample was stretched, the loaded
uniaxial force acted on the microfibers; the force was
parallel in the stretch areas, as shown in Fig. 1(d),
Figure 3 Electrical resistance of the electrically conductive
fabric vs strain; the insets show digital images of LED integrated
circuits with electrically conductive fabrics at (a) 0% strain, (b)
150% strain, and (c), (d) as electronic skins.
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and only the loaded force caused the rupture of the
grid-like structures in these areas.
Figure 4(b) shows that the electrically conductive
fabric samples did not have any ruptures at strains
of 0%, 50%, 100%, and 150%, and the clear, grid-like
structures remained. The grid size also became larger
with increasing strain. While the grid-like structures
appeared fuzzy and showed slight ruptures at strains
of 200% and 210%, only a few grids were found, as
confirmed by further SEM analysis. The grids were
the largest at 100% strain (Fig. 5(c)), followed by
those at 50% strain (Fig. 5(b)) and 0% strain (Fig. 5(a)),
caused by the stretching; the grid frameworks were
still dense and solid at strains of 0 and 50% (Figs. 5(a)
and 5(b)), but loose at 100% strain (Fig. 5(c)). Only
several grids were observed at 150% strain (Fig. 5(d)),
and no grids were observed at strains of 200% and
210% (Figs. 5(e) and 5(f)), when their frameworks were
completely destroyed and the fibers were gathered
into irregular bundles.
In the stress areas, because the sample was sand-
wiched between the two chucks of the universal tester
(Fig. S1 in the ESM), the chucks had significant effect
on the stretching state and produced stress to accelerate
the rupture of the samples. Figure 4(c) shows that the
electrically conductive fabric samples did not display
any ruptures at strains of 0% and 50% and the grids
grew bigger. They displayed slight ruptures at 100%
strain, and significant ruptures occurred at strains
of 150%, 200%, and 210%; their grid-like structures
were destroyed completely and turned into bundles
of microfibers. When observed under the SEM, the
electrically conductive fabric showed small grids at
0% strain, while the large grids appearing at 50% strain
had looser grid frameworks than those at 0% strain;
the grid-like structures remained clearly visible at these
strain levels (Figs. 5(g) and 5(h)). Only several grids
were observed in the electrically conductive fabric
samples at 100% strain, and none was found at strains
of 150%, 200%, and 210%; the grid frameworks were
completely destroyed and changed into bundles of
disordered microfibers at these strain levels (Figs. 5(i),
5(j), 5(k), and 5(l)). Obviously, the changes in the grid-
like structures in the stretch areas were somewhat
different from those in stress areas, but all grids
became larger with increasing strain and all solid and
Nano Res. 5

Figure 4 Microstructures of (a) stretched samples, (b) stretch areas, and (c) stress areas of electrically conductive fabric samples at
strains of 0%, 50%, 100%, 150%, 200%, and 210%. (d) Microstructures of break areas of electrically conductive fabric samples at
strains of 200% and 210%.

dense grid frameworks changed into loose networks
until they eventually ruptured and were completely
destroyed, resulting in disordered bundles of micro-
fibers (Figs. 4 and 5).
As mentioned above and shown in Figs. 4 and 5,
even though the stretch and stress areas of the
electrically conductive fabric changed with increasing
strain and their frameworks ruptured eventually, the
AgNWs continued to adhere to the microfibers so
that they remained electrically conductive. Figure 6
shows the microstructures of these electrically
conductive fibers. The stretching did not affect the
rod-like appearance of the electrically conductive
fibers at strains of 0% (Figs. 6(a1) and 6(a2)), 50%
(Figs. 6(b1) and 6(b2)), 100% (Figs. 6(c1) and 6(c2)),
150% (Figs. 6(d1) and 6(d2)), 200% (Figs. 6(e1) and
6(e2)), and 210% (Figs. 6(f1) and 6(f2)). The AgNWs
covered and packed the microfibers densely, forming
the electrically conductive channels for effective
conduction of electricity. The adhering states or
arrangements of AgNWs on the microfibers can be
seen in the high-magnification images in Figs. 6(a3)–
6(f3), which show them stacked or piled densely
together. It can also be seen that the stretching did
not affect the irregular and disordered arrangements
of the AgNW stacks at strains between 0% and 210%.
As shown in Fig. 1(c), the electrically conductive
channels consisted of the electrically conductive fibers
with adhering AgNWs and the electrically conductive
networks of AgNWs in the gaps and spaces between
microfibers.
During or after the stretching, the microstructures
of the electrically conductive fibers were not changed,
and the resulting electrically conductive channels
were not destroyed, as shown in Fig. 6. However, the
electrically conductive networks were destroyed to a
certain extent by the stretching. Figure 7(a) shows
that the AgNWs were not stretched at 0% strain and

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6 Nano Res.

Figure 5 SEM images of stretch areas of electrically conductive fabric samples at strains of (a) 0%, (b) 50%, (c) 100%, (d) 150%, (e)
200%, and (f) 210% SEM images of stress areas of electrically conductive fabric samples at strains of (g) 0%, (h) 50%, (i) 100%, (j)
150%, (k) 200%, and (l) 210%.

large, dense, and solid electrically conductive networks
developed among the microfibers. These AgNWs
were stacked, piled, and arranged disorderly, as shown
in the SEM image in the inset Fig. 7(a). When a uniaxial
force was applied, the electrically conductive fabric
samples were stretched and the electrically conductive
networks gradually cracked. As the strain was
increased from 0% to 210%, the electrically conductive
networks were destroyed, changing from large, con-
tinuous structures to the size of a small flake (Figs. 7(b),
7(c), 7(d), 7(e), and 7(f)). Because the electrically con-
ductive networks were separate from the microfibers
with adhering AgNWs, they did not combine with
the electrically conductive fibers as closely as those
under 0% strain. Nevertheless, the electrically con-
ductive networks still had enough conductive channels
resulting from the contacts between the flakes, as
well as the conductive channels resulting from the
contacts between electrically conductive networks
and electrically conductive fibers, thus imparting low
electrical resistance to the electrically conductive fabric.
Therefore, as shown in Fig. 3, the electrical resistance
of the electrically conductive fabric samples increased
from 0.0047 to 0.0091 Ω as the strain was increased
from 0% to 190% strain; the increase was rather small,
however.
Besides the stretch and stress areas, the electrically
conductive fabric also had break areas caused by the
broken microfibers at 200% and 210% strain. Similar
to the stretch areas, only the loaded uniaxial force
acted on the microfibers, and the force was parallel to
the break areas (Fig. 1(d)). As shown in Fig. 4(d), only
limited electrically conductive fibers existed in the
break areas, and they were all torn and almost dis-
connected. SEM images confirmed that there were
only a few scattered electrically conductive fibers

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Nano Res. 7

Figure 6 SEM images of electrically conductive fibers at strains of (a1), (a2), (a3) 0%, (b1), (b2), (b3) 50%, (c1), (c2), (c3) 100%, (d1),
(d2), (d3) 150%, (e1), (e2), (e3) 200%, and (f1), (f2), (f3) 210%, shown at magnifications of ×400 k, ×2.00 k, and ×10.0 k (from left to right).

(Figs. 8(a1) and 8(b1)), which is vastly different from
those in the stretch and stress areas shown in Fig. 5.
In addition, the electrically conductive networks were
almost completely destroyed, with only a few small
flakes remaining, so that the resulting electrically
conductive channels were nearly broken (Figs. 8(a2)
and 8(b2)). Although most electrically conductive
fibers were broken or disconnected in the break areas,
the remaining ones still exhibited high electrical
conductivity. The microstructures also were not
completely destroyed, with AgNWs still adhering to
the microfibers, as well as being stacked and arranged
disorderly at strains of 200% and 210% (Figs. 8(a3)–
(a5) and 8(b3)–(b5)), similar to the microfibers shown
in Fig. 6. Because the electrically conductive networks
were almost completely broken and most electrically
conductive fibers were disconnected, the resulting
electrically conductive channels were reduced, and the
electrical resistance increased significantly to 0.0274 Ω
at 200% strain and 112.1649 Ω at 210% strain, which
are much higher than the values in the strain range
of 0%–190% (Fig. 3).
As mentioned earlier, the AgNWs were absorbed
and adhered to the microfibers by physical effects
to form electrically conductive fibers (Fig. 1(c) and
its inset), and additional AgNWs filling the gaps and
spaces between these microfibers were stacked together
to formed the electrically conductive networks (Fig. 1(c)
and its inset). The absorbance and adherence were
reflected by the durability of the electrical resistance
of the electrically conductive fabric against washing
in water. As shown in Fig. 9, when the electrically

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8 Nano Res.

Figure 7 SEM images of electrically conductive networks at strains of (a) 0%, (b) 50%, (c) 100%, (d) 150%, (e) 200%, and (f) 210%;
the inset in (a) shows a magnified image of a section of the electrically conductive network.

Figure 8 SEM images of (a1) break areas of electrically conductive textiles at 200% strain, (a2) the torn electrically conductive
networks, and the electrically conductive fibers at (a3) ×400 k, (a4) ×2.00 k, and (a5) ×10.0 k magnification. SEM images of (b1) break
areas of electrically conductive textiles at 210% strain, (b2) the torn electrically conductive networks, and the electrically conductive
fibers at (b3) ×400 k, (b4) ×2.00 k, and (b5) ×10.0 k magnification.

conductive fabric samples (100 mm × 10 mm × 250 μm)
were dipped into 25 °C water that was agitated by a
magnetic stirrer (SAS-700, SANYO, Tokyo, Japan) at
500 rpm, the electrical resistance stayed stable in the
range of 0.0035–0.0048 Ω, which is close to the value
of 0.0047 Ω for the un-stretched fabric in Fig. 3.
Therefore, it can be seen that the electrically con-
ductive fabric displayed high durability, and the
AgNWs were well absorbed and adhered to the
microfibers so that they could not be easily removed
or scratched. The stable and high electrical conductivity
of this electrically conductive fabric was also indicated
by the digital images of an LED integrated circuit
consisting of the un-stretched and stretched electrically

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Nano Res.
Figure 9 Durability of the electrical resistance of electrically
conductive textiles in 25 °C water that was stirred at @500 rpm;
the inset shows the electrically conductive fabric in stirring water.
conductive fabric at 0% strain (Fig. 3(a)) and 150%
strain (Fig. 3(b)), respectively. Moreover, pieces of the
electrically conductive fabric were further adhered
onto fingers, like electronic skins, where they remained
through stretching, shrinking, or bending of the joints.
They also showed stable and high electrical conduc-
tivity, as shown in Figs. 3(c) and 3(d).
Compared to previously reported methods for
fabricating electrically conductive textiles, the method
reported in this study displayed several advantages.
(1) The dipping–drying method was much simpler
than the methods of coating [3], deposition [4],
spinning [5], printing [6], synthesis [7], and solution
growing [9], as well as the reported methods for pre-
paring Ag-based smart textiles [20–22], even though
it was similar to that of the “dying” textiles from
single-walled carbon nanotubes and cotton fibers [30].
(2) The AgNWs used in this study were industrially
fabricated on a large scale using the polyol process,
which had higher output than the fabrication process
of graphite nanoplatelets [18] and carbon nanotubes
[19, 30]. The diameter was about 60 nm and the
length was more than the 60-μm long AgNWs used
in this study, while the aspect ratio was more than
1,000, much larger than those of graphite nanoplatelets,
carbon nanotubes, and silver particles used by Nilsson
et al. [18], Khumpuang et al. [19], Xue et al. [20], Paul
et al. [21, 22], and Hu et al. [30], which ensured the
high electrical conductivity of the fabric prepared in
this study. (3) This study’s electrically conductive fabric
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9
exhibited super-low electrical resistance of 0.0047 Ω
before it was stretched, while the electrically conductive
textiles fabricated from graphite nanoplatelets, carbon
nanotubes, and Ag particles had electrical conductivity
of 0.22 S·cm–1 [18], electrical resistance of 200–400 Ω
[19] and 10–20 Ω [19], and sheet resistance of 3 Ω·sq–1
[30], respectively. (4) The electrically conductive fabric
prepared in this study showed electrical resistance of
0.0047 Ω at 0% strain, 0.0067 Ω at 180% strain, 0.0091 Ω
at 190% strain, and 0.0274 Ω at 200% strain, indicating
that the electrical resistance could be considered con-
stant in the strain range of 0%–190%, which is similar
or even superior to the stable specific capacity at
62 F·g–1 of a stretchable conductor with porous textile
conductors as electrodes and current collectors before
and after stretching to 120% strain [30]. (5) This
study’s electrically conductive fabric showed highly
durable electrical resistance that was stable in the
range of 0.0035–0.0048 Ω when the fabric was dipped
into the 25 °C water that was stirred at 500 rpm, which
is close to the value of 0.0047 Ω for the unstretched
electrically conductive fabric. The electrical resistance
is also similar or even superior to the unchanged
sheet resistance of 3 Ω·sq–1 for single-walled carbon
nanotubes and cotton fibers before and after washing
in water [30]. (6) The cupro fabric used in this study
came from natural cellulose, rather than chemical
fibers from conductive polymers [10–12], which could
impart good biological properties and biocompatibility
to the electrically conductive fabric. (7) Since the
AgNWs were industrially fabricated on a large scale
and the cupro fabric was derived from natural
cellulose, the electrically conductive fabric produced
in this study definitely had a lower cost than those
prepared from conductive polymers [10–12], graphite
nanoplatelets [18], and carbon nanotubes [19, 30].
Moreover, to further reduce the cost, the preparation
method could be modified to yield a high coverage
ratio on the microfibers using as few AgNWs as
possible. For example, the concentration of the AgNW
suspension could be adjusted, the dipping time of the
fabric in the AgNW suspension could be changed, and
the Ag ions could be allowed to grow into nanowires
along the seeds of the microfibers. These modifications
will be carried out in the future to obtain better results
for the electrically conductive fabric. In short, the
Research
10
electrically conductive fabric has shown low electrical
resistance and excellent flexibility, as well as the
potential for application as a smart textile.
4 Conclusions
We combined AgNWs with cupro fabrics using a
dipping–drying method to prepare an electrically
conductive fabric. The AgNWs were adhered and
absorbed on microfibers to form electrically conductive
fibers. They also filled the gaps and spaces between
microfibers and were stacked together to form the
electrically conductive networks. Both the electrically
conductive fibers and networks led to the high electrical
conductivity of the resulting electrically conductive
fabric. This fabric exhibited low resistance and good
stretchability, e.g., 0.0047 Ω at 0% strain, 0.0067 Ω at
180% strain, and 0.0091 Ω at 190% strain. Moreover, it
also showed excellent flexibility, as the high electrical
conductivity remained stable when stretched, shrunk,
or bent, thus allowing the fabric to be used as a smart
textile, especially in fields associated with weaving,
clothing, food products, lifestyle products, medicine,
biology, electronics, aviation, and military equipment
and accessories.
Electronic Supplementary Material: Supplementary
material (test method of electrical resistance during
tensile stretching) is available in the online version of this
article at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12274-014-0649-y.
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