A polyester/spandex blend fabrics-based e-textile for strain sensor, joule heater and energy storage applications

Electronic textiles (e-textiles), as a new class of wearable electronics, have shown diverse applications in modern technologies. However, the development of multi-functional e-textiles with both high strength and elasticity to satisfy different working conditions remains challenge. Herein, the e-textiles based on polyester/spandex blend (PSB) fabrics have been fabricated and their applications in strain sensors, heaters and supercapacitors have been systematically studied. The carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are coated on PSB fabrics via polydopamine (PDA) adhesion. As a strain sensor, the air-permeable PSB-CNT e-textiles show a gauge factor of 18.9 at high strain with a fast response time of 114 ms. The PSB-CNT strain sensor can work better than the cotton-based sensor even at high temperature of 100 °C due to the high heat resistance of polyester, securing its application in severe environment. As a joule heater, the PSB-CNT e-textiles can raise up to 110 °C at 12 V. Further electrodeposition of polypyrrole (PPy) on PSB-CNT can obtain the e-textile electrodes for micro-supercapacitor (MSC). The all-solid-state MSC using PSB-CNT-PPy delivers high specific capacitance of 550 mF cm−2 at 1 mA cm−2. This work offers a simple route for e-textile fabrications and promises potential applications in wearable sensors, heaters, and power sources.