Conducting nylon, cotton and wool yams by continuous vapor polymerization of pyrrole

Conductive textile yams were prepared by a continuous vapor polymerization method; the application of polypyrrole by the continuous vapor polymerization method used is designed for the easy adaptation into industrial procedures. The resultant conductive yams were examined by longitudinal and cross-sectional views, clearly showing the varying levels of penetration of the polymer into the yam structure. It was found that for wool the optimum specific resistance was achieved by using the 400TPM yam with a FeCl3 solution concentration of 80 g/L FeCl3 to produce 1.69 Omega g/cm(2). For cotton yam, the optimum specific resistance of 1.53 Omega g/cm(2) was obtained with 80 g/L of a FeCl3 solution. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.