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The polymer yarns are originally electrical insulators. Their structure does not provide valence electrons to conduct electrical current. The coating of carbon nanotubes (CNT) over the nylon yarn enables it to become a good conductor of heat and electricity. The objective of present study is to impart the electrical conductivity to the Nylon 6/Spandex yarn by coating the CNT. The physical properties of CNTs were studied by SEM analysis. The electrical properties of CNT coated yarns were investigated in relaxed and stretched state. The conductive yarns showed low resistance under high stretch load. Furthermore, the heating performance of the CNT coated yarns was analyzed by applying the different range of voltages at the surface of the yarns. The maximum temperature of about 280 °C was recorded when the applied voltages were 5 V for 60 min. Moreover, the durability of CNT coated yarns was observed against severe washing. The yarns showed good retention of the CNT even after severe washing, as proved by a very small loss in the electrical conductivity of the yarns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we developed multifunctional and durable textile sensors. The fabrics were coated with metal in two steps. At first, pretreatment of fabric was performed, and then copper and silver particles were coated by the chemical reduction method. Hence, the absorbance/adherence of metal was confirmed by the deposition of particles on microfibers. The particles filled the micro spaces between the fibers and made the continuous network to facilitate the electrical conduction. Secondly, further electroplating of the metal was performed to make the compact layer on the particle- coated fabric. The fabrics were analyzed against electrical resistivity and electromagnetic shielding over the frequency range of 200 MHz to 1500 MHz. The presence of metal coating was confirmed from the surface microstructure of coated fabric samples examined by scanning electron microscopy, EDS, and XRD tests. For optimized plating parameters, the minimum surface resistivity of 67 Ω, EMI shielding of 66 dB and Ohmic heating of 118 °C at 10 V was observed. It was found that EMI SH was increased with an increase in the deposition rate of the metal. Furthermore, towards the end, the durability of conductive textiles was observed against severe washing. It was observed that even after severe washing there was an insignificant increase in electrical resistivity and good retention of the metal coating, as was also proven with SEM images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]