Printing and Nanosolder Joining of Graphene Oxide on Textile Surfaces for Enhanced Gas Sensing

Ongoing miniaturization efforts in electronic device manufacture have driven component study to the nanoscale, sparking interest in nontraditional packaging substrates for targeted device design. The emerging field of ‘e-textiles’ involves adapting traditional manufacturing strategies for component mounting and interconnection onto flexible textiles in designing functional garment devices. We investigated the modification of textiles with nanosolder-inks, establishing conductive communication channels through the joining of resistive sensing elements via low temperature soldered interconnection. Low melting temperature tin/indium nanosolder particles were synthesized and formulated into conductive inks with graphene oxide at various loadings, then applied to cotton blend fabrics by dip coating and screen printing. Exposure to infrared heating enabled targeted low-temperature nanosolder melting between graphene oxide platelets without harming the fiber structure. The impact of melted solder interconnection was studied with regards to gas sensing capability for ammonia, in consideration of the practical requirements of fabric coatings in practical garment design. This work demonstrates robust, non-destructive soldered interconnection within a conductive textile platform made possible by low melting temperature nanomaterials.