Characterization of Electrical Heating Textile Coated by Graphene Nanoplatelets/PVDF-HFP Composite with Various High Graphene Nanoplatelet Contents

We prepared a horseshoe-pattern type electrical heating textile that was coated with high graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) content (32 wt% to 64 wt%) of graphene nanoplatelet/poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) composite. Silver-coated conductive yarn is used as electrode in the sample to improve its flexibility and applicability as wearable textile. These graphene nanoplatelet/PVDF-HFP coated samples with various high-contents of graphene were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray diffraction (XRD), sheet resistance analysis, and electrical heating performance analysis. Graphene nanoplatelet/PVDF-HFP coated cotton fabric improved the crystallinity and thermal stability with increasing thw high-content of GNP. With an increasing of the high-content of graphene nanoplatelet in the PVDF-HFP composite solution, the sheet resistance of samples tended to gradually decrease. That of, 64 wt% graphene nanoplatelet/PVDF-HFP composite coated sample (64 GR/cotton) was 44 Omega/sq. The electrical heating performance of graphene nanoplatelet/PVDF-HFP composite coated cotton fabric was improved with increasing the high-content of graphene nanoplatelet. When 5 V was applied to 64 GR/cotton, its surface temperature has been indicated to be about 48 degrees C and it could be used at a low voltage (<10 V). Thus, a horseshoe-pattern type electrical heating textile that is coated by high content of graphene nanoplatelet/PVDF-HFP composite solution sewn with silver-coated conductive yarn is expected to be applied to glove, shoes, jacket, and so on to improve its wearability and applicability.