Development and Characterization of High-Performance Conductive Coatings on Cotton Yarn for Advanced Machine-Sewn Electronic Textiles

Abstract

This study explores the development and characterization of conductive coatings applied to cotton yarns for machine-sewn electronic textiles. namely 100% pure undyed, fully bleached, and half bleached, are dip-coated with two solutions: the conductive carbon paste (CCP) solution and the PEDOT:PSS (5 wt.%)/CCP (55.8 wt.%) solution. Each yarn is coated and dried three times, followed by cross-linking with a 2% CaCl₂ solution. Extensive testing, including electrochemical, SEM, tensile, FTIR, XPS, TGA, DTG, linear density, machine sewing, and wash durability, is performed. The half-bleached yarn coated with CCP exhibits the highest conductivity (19.46 ± 0.240 Scm⁻¹) and density (65.33 ± 1.1 Tex), and the pure undyed yarn coated with PEDOT:PSS/CCP at 1.913 ± 0.007 Scm⁻¹. Both coatings demonstrated durability, retaining conductivity, and strength after multiple washing cycles, with values of 18.70 ± 0.32 and 1.90 ± 0.007 Scm⁻¹ post-wash. Thermal analysis (TGA and DSC) indicates improved stability, with Tm values reaching 273.66 and 280.38 °C for CCP and PEDOT/CCP coatings, respectively. FTIR and XPS confirmed strong chemical bonding, ensuring robust adhesion. These results suggest the feasibility of cost-effective, bio-compatible, and durable conductive yarns for advanced electronic textile applications.