Facile Metallization Technique of Textiles

for Electronic Textile Applications

Md. Momtaz Islam , Musa Ali Reza , Dewan Murshed Ahmed ,

Md. Abdullah Al. Mamun and Hasan Shahariar

Abstract Decoration of insulating textile with electrically conductive nanoparticle

has brought about a novel-application field for us. Nanoparticle-coated fabric can
be used for different types of electronic purposes. In this work, cotton-based knitted
and woven fabrics are coated with copper and silver nanoparticles simultaneously
following a cheaper and easier dip and dry process with less chemical utilization. Cu
and Ag nanoparticles are demonstrated using a highly reactive, cheaper, and available
reducing agent. Our sample shows constant conductivity for about a few months in
the open air. In addition, the change of resistance of the fabric with respect to bending
is examined. Further, a simple LED circuit was integrated with the fabric to test the
compatibility of the fabric for the application of wearable electronic textiles. This
paper will provide a future direction to the researchers who would like to work with
electronic textiles.

Keywords Metallization · Dip and dry method · Combined coating · Conductive

textile

Md. Momtaz Islam · M. A. Reza · D. M. Ahmed · Md. A. Al. Mamun

Department of Fabric Engineering, Bangladesh University of Textiles, Dhaka, Bangladesh
e-mail: momtaztex@gmail.com
M. A. Reza
e-mail: mdmusaalireza17@gmail.com
D. M. Ahmed
e-mail: murshed@butex.edu.bd
Md. A. Al. Mamun
e-mail: almamuntex36@gmail.com
H. Shahariar (B)
Fiber and Polymer Science Program, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA
e-mail: hshahar@ncsu.edu

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019 91

A. Majumdar et al. (eds.), Functional Textiles and Clothing,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7721-1_8
92 Md. Momtaz Islam et al.

1 Introduction

The end use of classical fabric is not limited to traditional dress wear. The property
and functionality of the fabric can be enhanced by integrating nanomaterials in it
[1–3]. The electrically conductive fabrics are used for organic photovoltaic (OPV)
[4], wearable radio-frequency (RF) devices such as textile-based antennas and trans-
mission line [5–8], solar cells [9], electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding [10],
wearable activity monitors [11], fiber-field-effect transistors [12], heatable textiles
[13]. There are several methods to grow conductive nanoparticle. Among them, the
polyol synthesis process is most frequently used [14]. The polyol synthesis process
is very complicated, and the chemical utilization is also high. In this work, a conduc-
tive feature is added to the cotton-based woven and knitted fabric using both CuSO4
and AgNO3 by means of cyclewise layer-by-layer coating of nanoparticle. In this
technique, there is no need to grow nanoparticles at the very first step. Conductive
nanoparticles can be grown on the surface of the textile. AgNO3 is a very pretty
substance to grow conductive nanoparticles. But, it is too much costly. Therefore,
CuSO4 can be used as a cheap metallic salt to grow conductive nanoparticles on
the textile material surface. But the problem of using copper nanoparticles is their
inherent tendency to oxidize in ambient conditions. In the recent study, it has been
mentioned that copper nanoparticles can resist oxidation under ambient conditions,
if they are coated with a proper protective layer [15]. That is why copper and silver
nanoparticles have been concurrently used. Silver nanoparticle acts as a protective
layer on the copper nanoparticles. This technique is very cost-effective as well as
there is no possibility to oxidize copper nanoparticles in ambient condition. We can
grow nanoparticle by using sodium borohydride [16] and trisodium citrate [17], tri-
calcium phosphate [18] as reducing agent of silver salt. These chemicals are toxic and
hazardous. Ascorbic acid works both as reducing and protecting agent, which makes
the nanoparticle-growing process economical, non-toxic, and environment-friendly
[19]. So, ascorbic acid has been chosen to grow both copper and silver nanoparticles
on the surface of sample using dip and dry method. As it has been mentioned that it
is a cheaper process and involves less chemical utilization, simply distilled water has
been used as the solvent. A comparison is established among knitted and woven fab-
ric in terms of conductivity. To find out the optimum concentration 1% (1 g/100 mL
water), 3% (3 g/100 mL water), and 5% (5 g/100 mL water) chemical concentration
were taken into consideration. A simple LED circuit was integrated with the fabric to
test the compatibility of the fabric for the application of wearable electronic textiles.
It is observed that the fabric sample is very suitable for current passing. Further,
the resistance of the sample does not change due to bending up to 100 cycles. In
the previous studies, it has been found that the silver-nanowire-decorated conductive
fabric cannot be considered as waterproof and loses its conductivity after washing
for a few cycles [13]. To overcome this challenge, a thin layer of silicon binder was
applied onto the fabric surface which leads to make the fabric waterproof without
the changing of conductivity at all.
Facile Metallization Technique of Textiles for Electronic … 93

2 Experimental Process

Hundred percent cotton-based knitted fabric and hundred percent cotton-based

woven fabric were used for this experiment. All the glassware used in this experi-
ment were cleaned with acetone and finally with distilled water. All the chemicals
were purchased from Merck KGaA, Germany, and used without further purifica-
tion. Ascorbic acid, CuSO4 , AgNO3 were used for the synthesis of copper and silver
nanoparticles. Only distilled water was used as the solvent to prepare ascorbic acid,
CuSO4 and AgNO3 solution. 100 mL of ascorbic acid, CuSO4, and AgNO3 solu-
tions were prepared, respectively, in three separate beakers. After that, a 3 × 3-inch
pre-cleaned and mercerized cotton-based woven fabric was immersed into the ascor-
bic acid solution for 5 min which is shown in Fig. 1a. Then, the sample was dried
at 80 °C for 10 min. After that, the dried sample was immersed into the CuSO4
solution for about 5 min which is shown in Fig. 1b. Then, the sample was dried at
80 °C for 10 min. Now, one cycle has been completed. In this way, 3–5 cycles have
been completed. Resistance of the sample was measured after each cycle. Figure 1c
shows the copper-coated sample. The following few cycles were carried out using
ascorbic acid and AgNO3 solution until the resistance of the sample reached below
20  per inch length. Figure 1d, e represent the silver-coating procedure and Fig. 1f
represents the copper and silver combined coated sample. Knitted fabric was made
conductive following combined coating process as it has been described for woven
fabric. In the previous studies, it has been found that silver-nanowire-coated fabric
loses its conductivity when undergoes a few washing cycles. It is because the water
molecules weaken the continuous integration of the conductive network. As a result,
sample loses its conductivity gradually. Since textile material is frequently subjected
to water, it is important that fabric sample retains its conductivity when exposes to
water. To meet the requirement, a very thin layer of silicon binder was used on the
surface of the conductive fabric sample.
JIONSIL™ 1018 is a low modulus, one part, acid curing at room temperature
silicon sealant. It is a general purpose silicon rubber sealant that offers good adhesion
performance in interior and exterior applications. Before applying this silicon binder,
it was diluted with mineral spirit and a fine layer of silicon binder was applied on the
conductive fabric surface. After the application of silicon binder, the fabric sample
became totally waterproof without the changing of conductivity at all.

3 Result and Discussion

3.1 Optimum Concentration

To find out optimum concentration 1, 3, and 5% chemical concentrations have been

used, respectively, to make cotton-based woven fabric conductive. When 1% chem-
ical concentration was used, it was required 15 cycles to obtain resistance of the
94 Md. Momtaz Islam et al.

Fig. 1 Copper and silver combined coating procedure

Number of cycles vs resistance graph for different concentration

100000
20500 20300 20600
Resistance in Ω per inch

10000

1000

100

18.5
10
6
4.5
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Number of cycles
1% concentration 3%concentration 5% concentration

Fig. 2 Change in resistance with respect to number of cycles

fabric sample below 20  per inch length. On the other hand, 3% chemical con-
centration required 11 cycles and 5% chemical concentration required 6 cycles to
obtain resistance below 20  per inch length. Though 5% chemical concentration
required lowest number of cycle, the chemical consumption for 3% was lower than
that of 5% concentration. Considering both the factors of the number of cycle and
chemical consumption, 3% concentration can be regarded as the optimum concen-
tration. Figure 2 shows the change in resistance of sample for different chemical
concentrations.
Facile Metallization Technique of Textiles for Electronic … 95

3.2 Comparison Among Woven and Knitted Fabric

To compare among cotton-based woven and knitted fabric, a woven fabric sample and
a knitted fabric sample each of similar size were taken. Single-jersey knitted fabric is
not suitable for coating because of its inherent tendency to curling. Rib knitted fabric
has a porous structure which is a major problem to build up continuous conductive
network on the fabric surface. That is why interlock knitted fabric with higher GSM
is suitable. We have selected interlock fabric with course per inch-60, wales per inch-
35, and GSM-190 for the experiment. In case of woven fabric, tight structure gives
better conductivity. For this reason, woven fabric with the specification: 1/1 plain
structure, ends per inch-64, picks per inch-48, and GSM-110 was selected for the
experiment. Both of the cotton-based woven and interlock knitted fabric samples were
coated using 3% chemical concentration. It was observed that knitted fabric required 9
cycles and woven fabric required 11 cycles to reach the resistance below 5  per inch
length. But the knitted fabric is not suitable to withstand mechanical stress. Knitted
fabric loses its conductivity when undergoes any mechanical deformation. Since,
knitted fabric has enough elongation property, when it undergoes an external load,
it shows the tendency to elongate. As a result, the continuous conductive network is
broken and knitted sample fails to show constant conductivity. On the other hand,
woven fabric sample shows constant conductivity because of its lowest elongation
property. Figure 3 represents the comparison among the cotton-based woven and
knitted sample in terms of resistance.

3.3 Bending Test

Textile materials experience different mechanical deformations and forces. Thus,

it is necessary to test the change in resistance of the sample due to bending. For
bending deformation, we folded the sample in the middle and unfolded again. The

Fig. 3 Comparison among Comparison between woven and knitted sample in the term of
woven and knitted sample conductivity
100000
Resistance in Ω per inch

10500
10300
10000

1000

100

10
4.5
2.8
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Number of cycles
woven sample knitted sample
96 Md. Momtaz Islam et al.

Change in resistance due to bending

10000000

Resistance in Ω per inch 1000000

100000

10000

1000

100

10

1
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100
Number of bending cycles
Woven sample Knitted sample

Fig. 4 Change in resistance with respect to bending cycles

same cycle has been repeated 100 times for woven and knitted sample. It is observed
that woven sample does not change its resistance due to bending up to 100 cycles,
whereas knitted sample starts to increase its resistance due to bending for a few cycles
and after about 65 cycles its resistance increases significantly due to dimensional
deformation which causes the breakage in the conductive network. Note that, the
metallized fabrics (both woven and knit) were not coated with waterproof silicon
coating, while the bending test was performed. The goal of this test was to analyze
the particle-to-particle and particle-to-fiber adhesion of the metallized woven and
knitted fabric without the addition of silicon coating under mechanical deformation.
Figure 4 shows the change in resistance due to bending.

3.4 LED Demonstration

A simple LED circuit was integrated with the fabric to test the compatibility of the
fabric for the application of wearable electronic textiles. It has been observed that the
fabric sample is very suitable for current passing. Figure 5a shows the conductivity
below 10  per inch length and Fig. 5b shows LED demonstration.

3.5 Optical Image Analysis

When fabric sample undergoes dip coasting, a thin, uniform conductive layer of
nanoparticle is deposited on the fabric surface. The conductive layer reduces the
Facile Metallization Technique of Textiles for Electronic … 97

Fig. 5 Showing the conductivity of the fabric

Fig. 6 Optical images of a native woven fabric, b woven fabric metallized with 3 weight % of
AgNO3 solution, c silicon binder coating of metallized woven fabric, d native knitted fabric, e knitted
fabric coated with 3 weight % of AgNO3 solution and f silicon binder coating of metallized knitted
fabric

porosity of the fabric. It is shown from the optical images that the fibers of both
knitted and woven fabrics have been properly coated with a metal layer. It is note-
worthy that the dimensional stability of knitted fabric has significantly changed from
its native condition after the metallization process. Figure 6e shows the untwisting
phenomenon of the yarn due to the cyclic drying process of the knitted fabric during
the metallization procedure. This explains the reason for higher resistance of the
metallized knitted fabric and the lower stability of its electrical resistance during
bending than that of woven fabric.
98 Md. Momtaz Islam et al.

4 Conclusion

In this work, we tried to metallize the cotton-based woven and knitted fabric by
means of cyclewise layer-by-layer coating of metal salts and reducing agent. Woven
fabric shows the resistance 4.5  per inch length, whereas knitted fabric shows resis-
tance 2.8  per inch length. However, in case of durability of maintaining electrical
resistance, woven fabric shows better durability than knitted fabric. Woven fabric has
a tight structure because of the interlacement between the yarns. As a result, it is easy
to grow and fix metal particles between the interlacement points. On the other hand,
knitted fabric shows poor durability due to dimensional instability. The resistance
of woven fabric does not significantly increase due to bending up to 100 cycles,
whereas there is a significant increase in the resistance of knitted fabric. Application
of waterproof coating is desired to improve the durability of both metallized woven
and knitted fabric. The detailed experimental procedures need to be carried on to
understand the durability of the silver-coated textiles. As a continuation of this work,
we are conducting washing, bending, and abrasion resistance test of the presented
samples with varying the concentration of Ag salt and silicon binder. This study
will help to develop a facile and durable integration of conductive (silver/copper)
materials on textile platform.

Acknowledgements We acknowledge all the faculty members of Fabric Engineering department

of Bangladesh University of Textiles, Dhaka, Bangladesh. We express special gratitude to all the
laboratory assistants of Bangladesh University of Textiles, Dhaka, Bangladesh, for helping us to
conduct the experiments.

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