Colorful Conductive Threads for Wearable Electronics: Transparent Cu-Ag Nanonets.

Electronic textiles have been regarded as the basic building blocks for constructing a new generation of wearable electronics. However, the electronization of textiles often changes their original properties such as color, softness, glossiness, or flexibility. Here a rapid room-temperature fabrication method toward conductive colorful threads and fabrics with Ag-coated Cu (Cu-Ag) nanonets is demonstrated. Cu-Ag core-shell nanowires are produced through a one-pot synthesis followed by electroless deposition. According to the balance of draining and entraining forces, a fast dip-withdraw process in a volatile solution is developed to tightly wrap Cu-Ag nanonets onto the fibers of thread. The modified threads are not only conductive, but they also retain their original features with enhanced mechanical stability and dry-wash durability. Furthermore, various e-textile devices are fabricated such as a fabric heater, touch screen gloves, a wearable real-time temperature sensor, and warm fabrics against infrared thermal dissipation. These high quality and colorful conductive textiles will provide powerful materials for promoting next-generation applications in wearable electronics.

Metal Nanowire Felt as a Flow-Through Electrode for High-Productivity Electrochemistry.

Flow-through electrodes such as carbon paper are used in redox flow batteries, water purification, and electroorganic syntheses. This work examines the extent to which reducing the size of the fibers to the nanoscale in a flow-through electrode can increase the productivity of electrochemical processes. A Cu nanowire felt, made from nanowires 45 times smaller than the 10 µm wide fibers in carbon paper, can achieve a productivity 278 times higher than carbon paper for mass-transport-limited reduction of Cu ions. Higher increases in productivity were predicted for the Cu nanowire felt based on the mass-transport-limited current, but Cu ion reduction became charge transfer-limited on Cu nanowire felt at high concentrations and flow rates when the mass-transport-limited current became comparable to the charge transfer-limited current. In comparison, the reaction rate on carbon paper was mass-transport-limited under all concentrations and flow rates because its mass-transport-limited current was much lower than its charge transfer-limited current. Higher volumetric productivities were obtained for the Cu nanowire felt by switching from Cu ion reduction to Alizarin Red S (ARS) reduction, which has a higher reaction rate constant. An electroorganic intramolecular cyclization reaction with Cu nanowire felt achieved a productivity 4.2 times higher than that of carbon paper, although this reaction was also affected by charge transfer kinetics. This work demonstrates that large gains in productivity can be achieved with nanostructured flow-through electrodes, but the potential gains can be limited by the charge transfer kinetics of a reaction.

Stretchable Conductive Composites from Cu-Ag Nanowire Felt.

Materials that retain a high conductivity under strain are essential for wearable electronics. This article describes a conductive, stretchable composite consisting of a Cu-Ag core-shell nanowire felt infiltrated with a silicone elastomer. This composite exhibits a retention of conductivity under strain that is superior to any composite with a conductivity greater than 1000 S cm-1. This work also shows how the mechanical properties, conductivity, and deformation mechanism of the composite changes as a function of the stiffness of the silicone matrix. The retention of conductivity under strain was found to decrease as the Young's modulus of the matrix increased. This was attributed to void formation as a result of debonding between the nanowire felt and the elastomer. The nanowire composite was also patterned to create serpentine circuits with a stretchability of 300%.