Facile preparation of superhydrophobic conductive textiles and the application of real-time sensor of joint motion sensor

Abstract Flexible textile integrating superhydrophobicity with electrical conductivity is strongly desirable for emerging application horizons such as wearable electronic sensors, electronic skin, and corrosion-resistant circuits. However, it is still constrained to realize the integration of superhydrophilicity, electrical conductivity and suitability for various harsh environments. Herein a simple one-step dip coating route is developed to prepare the Ag-Zn (OH)2@STA composite coating on flexible textile substrate by directly adding the silver nitrate (AgNO3•6H2O) into the precursor solution containing stearic acid (STA) and subsequent dip coating. In the composite coating, a network architecture made of Zn (OH)2@STA nanosheets is incorporated with large amount of small Ag@STA nanoparticles. All nanosheets and nanoparticles are held together and conglutinated on textile surface by STA. The textile substrate gives sample flexibility for wearable devices. The unique coating structure endows the fabric with the superhydrophobicity and electrical conductivity. The superhydrophobicity enable the coating to have excellent waterproof ability. And the perfect mechanical, thermal and light stabilities ensure the conductive textile is used in various harsh environments for long term. Furthermore, as the bending angle of the coating increases, the coating conductivity decreases linearly, and has been applied as the real-time bending sensor of various bodily joints with high sensitivity. All these results demonstrate the huge application perspectives for wearable electronic devices.