Moist-electric films based on asymmetric distribution of sodium alginate oxygen-containing functional groups

Sandwiched-structure fabric-based high-performance moisture-enabled electricity generators for the power supply of small electronics

In response to the energy crisis caused by the exhaustion of fossil energy sources, as well as to combat global warming and achieve carbon neutrality, a sandwiched-structure fabric-based moisture-enabled electricity generator (SMEG) has been developed. Cotton fabric coated with MWCNT and PEDOT: PSS solution is used as the upper and bottom electrodes, while the acid-treated cotton fabric with coating PVA and HCl hydrogel electrolyte serves as the middle layer. A single SMEG can generate a maximum open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 0.44 V and a maximum short-circuit current (Isc) of 30 μA. When a drop of LiCl is dripped on one side of SMEGs, the maximum Voc and Isc increases to 0.57 V and 66 μA, respectively. The decline in output performance slows down when LiCl is applied. The Voc increases almost linearly in series and reaches 3.55 V when six SMEGs are connected, while the Isc increases linearly in parallel and reaches 204 μA when six SMEGs are connected. The maximum power density of a single SMEG yields 0.29 μW/cm2 with an external resistance of 1 kΩ. The series connection of six SMEGs successfully lit an LED and a calculator under ambient humidity conditions, demonstrating their potential application in small electronics.

Construction of an Electrical Conductor, Strain Sensor, Electrical Connection and Cycle Switch Using Conductive Graphite Cotton Fabrics

Researchers in science and industry are increasingly interested in conductive textiles. In this article, we have successfully prepared conductive textiles by applying a graphite dispersion to cotton fabric using a simple brush-coating-drying method and the solvents of dimethyl sulfoxide, dimethyl formamide, and a solvent mixture of both. The sheet resistance of the resulting cotton fabrics could be influenced by the type of polar solvent used to prepare the graphite dispersion and the concentration of graphite. In addition, the graphite cotton fabrics showed semiconductive behavior upon studying the resistance at different temperatures. A flexible strain sensor was fabricated using these graphite cotton fabrics for human motion detection. Most importantly, the resulting strain sensor functions even after 100 bending cycles, indicating its excellent reproducibility. In addition, our results have also shown that these graphite cotton fabrics can be used as electrical interconnects in electrical circuits without any visible degradation of the conductive cotton. Finally, a cotton electrical cycle switch was made using the graphite cotton fabrics and worked in the on and off state.