PEDOT:PSS-based piezo-resistive sensors applied to reinforcement glass fibres for in situ measurement during the composite material weaving process.

The quality of fibrous reinforcements used in composite materials can be monitored during the weaving process. Fibrous sensors previously developed in our laboratory, based on PEDOT:PSS, have been adapted so as to directly measure the mechanical stress on fabrics under static or dynamic conditions. The objective of our research has been to develop new sensor yarns, with the ability to locally detect mechanical stresses all along the warp or weft yarn. This local detection is undertaken inside the weaving loom in real time during the weaving process. Suitable electronic devices have been designed in order to record in situ measurements delivered by this new fibrous sensor yarn.

Colored and functional silver nanoparticle-wool fiber composites.

Silver nanoparticles utilizing the surface plasmon resonance effect of silver have been used to color merino wool fibers as well as imparting antimicrobial and antistatic properties to them to produce a novel silver nanoparticle-wool composite material. This is accomplished by the reduction of silver ions in solution by trisodium citrate (TSC) in the presence of merino wool fibers or fabrics. The silver metal nanoparticles simultaneously bind to the amino acids of the keratin protein in the wool fibers using TSC as the linker. The colors of the resulting merino wool-silver nanoparticle composites range from yellow/brown to red/brown and then to brown/black, because of the surface plasmon resonance effect of silver, and are tuned by controlling the reduction of silver ions to silver nanoparticles to give the required particle size on the fiber surface. In addition to the surface plasmon resonance optical effects, the silver nanoparticle-wool composites exhibit effective antimicrobial activity, thus inhibiting the growth of microbes and also an increase in the electrical conductivity, imparting antistatic properties to the fibers. Therefore, silver nanoparticles function as a simultaneous colorant and antimicrobial and antistatic agent for wool. Chemical and physical characterizations of the silver nanoparticle-merino wool composite materials have been carried out using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, synchrotron radiation X-ray diffraction, atomic absorption spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, direct-current electrical conductivity measurements, wash-fast and rub-fast tests, and antimicrobial tests.

Functionalised hybrid materials of conducting polymers with individual wool fibers.

Composites of natural protein materials, such as merino wool, with the conducting polymers polypyrrole (PPy) and polyaniline (PAn) have been successfully synthesised. In doing so, hybrid materials have been produced in which the mechanical strength and flexibility of the fibers is retained whilst also incorporating the desired chemical and electrical properties of the polymer. Scanning electron microscopy shows PPy coatings to comprise individual polymer spheres, approximately 100 to 150 nm in diameter. The average size of the polymer spheres of PAn was observed to be approximately 50 to 100 nm in diameter. These spheres fuse together in a continuous sheet to coat the fibers in their entirety. The reduction of silver ions to silver metal nanoparticles onto the redox active polymer surface has also been successful and thus imparts anti-microbial properties to the hybrid materials. This gives rise to further applications requiring the inhibition of microbial growth. The chemical and physical characterisation of such products has been undertaken through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), electrical conductivity, cyclic voltammetry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and the testing of their anti-microbial activity.