Enhancing the Conductive Properties of the Textile Surfaces for Electrodes or EM Shields Development by Low-Pressure RF Plasma O2

Abstract

This paper presents the methods for enhancing the textile surfaces' conductive properties for flexible electrodes development. Our experiments used 100% raw cotton fabric that presents a pronounced hydrophobic character, followed by treatments in low-pressure RF plasma O2 using a power generator RF1 13.56 MHz and a power generator RF2 40 kHz to achieve a hydrophilic effect of the textile surface. The hydrophilic textile surfaces obtained were treated using scraping method with a conductive paste based polymeric matrix (polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)) and nickel microparticle (size dimension < 150 μm), followed by free drying for 14-18 hours, respective crosslinking. After free drying at room temperature and crosslinking of the conductive paste, the materials' surface resistance was investigated using the Warmbier METRISO B530 Surface Resistance Tester and concentric ring probe 880, and the results indicated a low surface resistance (4.77 -3.85x102 Ω). In addition, the investigations of hydrophilic/hydrophobic character of the textile surfaces using the VCA Optima device and 4μl distilled water drop indicated that the textile surfaces treated in plasma and coated with conductive paste based Ni present a hydrophilic character.The technology used for transforming a hydrophobic material into hydrophilic material in just 3 minutes, RF plasma O2, is a clean technology with zero waste and a low carbon footprint.