Preparation of Core/Shell Electrically Conductive Fibers by Efficient Coating Carbon Nanotubes on Polyester

Conducting fibers with improved properties and functionalities are needed for diverse applications. Here we report the fabrication of core/shell conductive Dacron fibers by dip-coating method through originating from multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) coated on polyester fibers. The annealing process was conducted to enhance interaction between the conductive shell and polyester core as well as within the MWCNTs network. The properties of two kinds of MWCNTs dispersions and the electrical properties of conductive fibers were studied, respectively. The results show that both MWCNTs-polyurethane resin (MWCNTs-WPU) dispersion and MWCNTs-acrylic resin (MWCNTs-PAA) dispersion present a typical characteristic of pseudo-plastic fluid and an excellent wetting ability to polyester fibers. The ultimate tensile stress and elongation at break for the MWCNTs-PAA coated fiber are 261 MPa and 25.43%. The ultimate tensile stress and the elongation at break are both increasing with the increasing of MWCNTs contents, due to the strong interface bonding ability between the conductive shell and polyester core and strengthen the MWCNTs network. The electrical resistance of the obtained fibers can be controlled in the range from 732 to 30 Ω/cm by changing MWCNTs content, dipping times and annealing temperature. It was found that it is able to light a LED. All results suggest that the conductive fibers embody a good synergy effect of carbon nanotubes and polymers. Therefore, the fabricated conductive fibers have a widely prospect for being applied in the field of flexible electronics.