Design and Fabrication of Silk Templated Electronic Yarns and Applications in Multifunctional Textiles

• Published in: Matter Vol. 1; no. 5; pp. 1411 - 1425
• Main Authors: Ye, Chao, Ren, Jing, Wang, Yanlei, Zhang, Wenwen, Qian, Cheng, Han, Jun, Zhang, Chenxin, Jin, Kai, Buehler, Markus J., Kaplan, David L., Ling, Shengjie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 06.11.2019
• Subjects: carbon nanotubes; e-textile; electronic yarns; MAP4: Demonstrate; sensors; silk fibers; simulations; smart materials; thermal resonse; water repellency; silk fibers; sensors; carbon nanotubes; MAP4: Demonstrate; smart materials; thermal resonse; electronic yarns; water repellency; e-textile; simulations
• ISSN: 2590-2385; 2590-2385
• DOI: 10.1016/j.matt.2019.07.016

E-textiles are of interest in a variety of fields, such as wearable electronics and real-time healthcare monitoring. Critical challenges remain, related to design and fabrication techniques to meet the varied requirements for e-textiles. As an ancient and incomparable textile fiber, natural silk fibers can be considered to address these issues. However, processing challenges have thus far precluded the realization of electrically conducting natural silks. Here, we report a scalable dip-coating strategy to construct conductive silk fibers (CSFs). Natural silk fibers were functionalized by a tailor-made carbon nanotube (CNT) paint, which selectively etches the surface of the silk fibers without destroying the internal structure of the fibers. The CSFs maintained the properties of both the silks and CNTs, with high mechanical performance, super-hydrophobicity, solvent resistance, and thermal sensitivity. The CSFs can be automatically woven into fabrics, resulting in textiles sensitive to surrounding physical stimuli, including force, strain, temperature, and solvents. [Display omitted] •Conductive silk fibers were produced through a dip-coating strategy•Structure, property, and functional merits of silk and carbon nanotubes are combined•Conductive silk fibers can withstand automated manufacturing and high-intensity washing•Functional diversity is achieved in conductive silk fiber-based smart textiles Silk fiber and carbon nanotubes are selected to construct conductive silk fibers (CSFs) for e-textile applications. Using a scalable dip-coating strategy, we integrate the complementary advantages of both components in one hybrid fiber system. In such a system, silk fibers provide mechanical strength and toughness and carbon nanotubes contribute functions such as water repellency, solvent resistance, and thermal and electrical conductivity. The mechanical and functional merits of CSFs allow them to be woven into e-textiles using automated fabric machines. The resultant e-textiles can withstand automatic or high-intensity ultrasonic washing. These CSF e-textiles can be used as wearable sensing platforms to detect and monitor surrounding physical and chemical signals, such as force, temperature, and solvents, showing promising applications for wearable devices, human augmentation, healthcare monitoring, and human-machine interfaces. Continuously spinnable conductive silk fibers (CSFs) were constructed by a facile dip-coating strategy. The resultant CSFs integrate the mechanical and functional merits of both silk and carbon nanotubes and can be directly woven into smart textiles using automated equipment. These CSF-based e-textiles show promising applications in wearable devices, human augmentation, healthcare monitoring, and human-machine interfaces.