Development of graphite-based conductive textile coatings

Conductive yarns and coatings are necessary for a broad variety of smart textile applications, such as sensors, data transmission lines, or heated fabrics. The main problems of such conductive textile elements are abrasion and washing resistance. Since different findings with respect to these properties are reported in the literature for similar coatings, the required optimization is impeded. In a recent study, the washing resistance of different graphite-polyurethane coatings with graphite contents between 25% and 33% on cotton, linen, viscose, and polyester woven fabrics was compared, using two different graphite particle sizes on diverse textile substrates. It was found that not only the graphite particle dimensions and graphite concentration strongly influence the longevity of the coatings, but also the textile substrates which were coated with the conductive mass. This means that conductive coatings cannot be optimized without knowledge of the planned application.