Patent Application
20210189600
The disclosure relates to a conductive fiber and a method for fabricating the same.
In the textile industry, conductive fibers are the key material for fabricating smart textiles and wearable devices. In general, metal fibers are known as main conventional conductive fibers. They exhibit sufficient strength and rigidity. Since metal fibers have poor elasticity and stretchability, textiles made of metal fibers are uncomfortable to wear.
Conventional fibers used in textiles are comfortable to wear, but they do not conduct electricity, since the chemical structure of conventional fibers does not have conjugating moiety. In order to improve their electrical conductivity, carbon black is used to blend with polymer via extrusion molding to form pellets for spinning. The obtained fiber prepared from the aforementioned process exhibits poor strength due to the excessive amount of carbon black that was added. In addition, due to the phase separation caused by poor compatibility between the carbon black and the polymer, the electrical conductivity of the fiber is hard to improve by simply adding carbon black. Furthermore, in another process for increasing the electrical conductivity of the conventional fiber, a metal layer is formed on the fiber via evaporation or surface chemical deposition to improve the electrical conductivity of the fiber. Since the metal layer exhibits poor stretchability, the fiber is apt to lose electrical conductivity after stretching.
Therefore, a novel conductive fiber and a method for preparing the same are required to solve the aforementioned problems.
According to embodiments of the disclosure, the disclosure provides a method for fabricating the conductive fiber. The method includes the following steps. A first solution is provided, wherein the first solution includes a spinnable polymer dissolved in a first solvent, wherein the weight ratio of the spinnable polymer to the first solvent is from 5:95 to 20:80. A second solution is provided, wherein the second solution includes a conductive material dispersed in a second solvent, wherein the weight ratio of the conductive material to the second solvent is from 5:95 to 20:80. The shape of the conductive material is dendritic or snowflake-like. Next, the first solution and the second solution are subjected to a wet spinning process, obtaining the conductive fiber.
According to another embodiment of the disclosure, the disclosure provides a conductive fiber. The conductive fiber includes a conductive material and a spinnable polymer, wherein the shape of the conductive material is dendritic or snowflake-like, wherein the weight ratio of the spinnable polymer to the conductive material is from 7:3 to 3:7, based on the total weight of the spinnable polymer and the conductive material.
A detailed description is given in the following embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The conductive fiber and a method for fabricating the same are described in detail in the following description. In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details and embodiments are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. The specific elements and configurations described in the following detailed description are set forth in order to clearly describe the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, that the exemplary embodiments set forth herein are used merely for the purpose of illustration, and the inventive concept may be embodied in various forms without being limited to those exemplary embodiments. In the drawings, the size, shape, or thickness of some of the elements may be exaggerated and not drawn on scale for illustrative purposes. The disclosure will be described with respect to particular embodiments and with reference to certain drawings but the disclosure is not limited thereto.
The disclosure provides a conductive fiber and a method for fabricating conductive fiber. Since the conductive fiber includes novel conductive materials uniformly dispersed in a spinnable polymer, and since the novel conductive materials, which have specific branched structure, constitute a network structure, not much conductive material needs to be added to give the conductive fiber a low electrical resistance. The novel conductive material can also be used with an elastic polymer, and the combination can be used in a wet spinning process. As a result, a conductive fiber with a solid, hollow or core-shell structure and having electrical conductivity can be prepared. Besides electrical conductivity, the conductive elastic fiber further exhibits improved wearing comfort and reduced electrical resistance.
The disclosure provides a method for fabricating the conductive fiber. The method includes the following steps. A first solution is provided, wherein the first solution includes a spinnable polymer dissolved in a first solvent, wherein the weight ratio of the spinnable polymer to the first solvent is from 5:95 to 20:80 (such as 7:93, 10:90, 12:88, 15:85, or 17:83). A second solution is provided, wherein the second solution includes a conductive material dispersed in a second solvent, wherein the weight ratio of the conductive material to the second solvent is from 5:95 to 20:80 (such as 7:93, 10:90, 12:88, 15:85, or 17:83), and wherein the shape of the conductive material is dendritic or snowflake-like. Next, the first solution and the second solution are subjected to a wet spinning process, obtaining the conductive fiber.
According to embodiments of the disclosure, the conductive material can be metal material.
According to embodiments of the disclosure, the conductive material is a dendritic conductive material or snowflake-like conductive material.
As shown in
As shown in
According to embodiments of the disclosure, the conductive material can be a metal or an alloy of the metal, wherein the metal can be gold, silver, copper, aluminum, nickel, or an alloy thereof. For example, the conductive material can be gold, silver, copper, aluminum, nickel, gold-containing alloy, silver-containing alloy, copper-containing alloy, aluminum-containing alloy, nickel-containing alloy, or a combination thereof.
According to embodiments of the disclosure, the weight ratio of the spinnable polymer to the conductive material is from 7:3 to 3:7 (such as 3.5:6.5, 4:6, 5:5, 6:4).
According to embodiments of the disclosure, a solid content of the first solution can be about 5 wt % to 20 wt %; and, a solid content of the second solution can be about 5 wt % to 20 wt %.
According to embodiments of the disclosure, the spinnable polymer can be polyvinyl alcohol, sodium alginate, carboxy methyl cellulose, polyurethane, polyester, styrene-butadiene-styrene resin (SBS), polypropylene (PP) Nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR), or a combination thereof. In addition, According to some embodiments of the disclosure, the spinnable polymer can have a weight average molecular weight of from 10,000 g/mol to 500000 g/mol), such as 50,000 g/mol to 300,000 g/mol. According to embodiments of the disclosure, the first solvent and the second solvent can be the same or different. For example, the first solvent and the second solvent can be independently deionized water, dimethylformamide, dimethylacetamide, dimethylsulfone, tetrahydrofuran, dichloromethane, methylethyl ketone, or chloroform. According to embodiments of the disclosure, the first solvent can be miscible with the second solvent.
According to embodiments of the disclosure, the weight ratio of the first solution to the second solution is from 1:2 to 3:1.
According to embodiments of the disclosure, the disclosure provides a conductive fiber. The conductive fiber includes a conductive material and a spinnable polymer, the weight ratio of the spinnable polymer to the conductive material is from 7:3 to 3:7 (such as 3.5:6.5, 4:6, 5:5, or 6:4). When the weight of the spinnable polymer is too low, the conductive material is apt to protrude out from the obtained conductive fiber (i.e. there is no fiber is formed). When the weight of the conductive material is too low, the obtained conductive fiber exhibits low electrical conductively even not conductive. According to embodiments of the disclosure, the conductive fiber of the disclosure can have a fiber fineness from 0.3 mm to 2 mm (such as from 0.3 mm to 1.0 mm, from 0.4 mm to 0.9 mm, or from 0.5 mm to 0.8 mm), and the conductive fiber of the disclosure can have a resistivity about from 9 Ω/cm to 300 Ω/cm.
According to embodiments of the disclosure,
According to embodiments of the disclosure, the method for fabricating the solid conductive fiber as shown in
According to embodiments of the disclosure,
According to embodiments of the disclosure, the method for fabricating the hollow conductive fiber as shown in
According to embodiments of the disclosure,
According to embodiments of the disclosure, the method for fabricating the conductive fiber with a core-shell structure as shown in
According to other embodiments of the disclosure, as shown in
Below, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so as to be easily realized by a person having ordinary knowledge in the art. The inventive concept may be embodied in various forms without being limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. Descriptions of well-known parts are omitted for clarity, and like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.
Preparation of Dendritic Silver Powder
0.1-0.6 wt % parts by weight of silver nitrate (commercially available from Sigma-Aldrich) and 1-5 wt % parts by weight of nitric acid (commercially available from Sigma-Aldrich) were dissolved in deionized water, obtaining a solution. 0.02-0.2 wt % parts by weight of polyvinylpyrrolidone (commercially available from Sigma-Aldrich) was added to the aforementioned solution. After stirring, the aforementioned solution was disposed in an electrochemical deposition equipment, at a current density of 4 ASD. Herein, ITO (Indium tin oxide) glass was used as a working electrode, Ag—AgCl was used as reference electrode, platinum (Pt) was used as counter electrode. After deposition for 5-15 minutes, dendritic silver powder (with a diameter of about 0.5-2 μm, and a length of about 5-20 μm) was obtained.
Polyvinyl alcohol (with a trade number of BF-24) and waterborne polyurethane (with a trade number of Paramillion AF36) were dissolved in deionized water, obtaining a first solution (with a solid content of 12 wt %, based on the total weight of water, polyvinyl alcohol, and waterborne polyurethane) (wherein the weight ratio of polyvinyl alcohol to waterborne polyurethane was 9:1). In addition, the dendritic silver powder (serving as a conductive material) was dispersed in deionized water, obtaining a second solution (the weight ratio of the conductive material to the water was 20:80). Next, the first solution was added to the second solution (wherein the weight ratio of the first solution to the second solution was 5:5). Next, after stirring at 50° C. for 120 minutes (with a stirring rate of 100 rpm), the dendritic silver powder was fully dispersed in the aforementioned first solution, obtaining a third solution. Next, the third solution was subjected to a wet spinning process via a spinning device, obtaining solid Conductive fiber (1). The spinning process was performed under the following conditions: the spinning nozzle had a diameter of 1.0 mm; the spinning temperature was about 50° C.; the spinning nozzle had a liquid flow speed of 3 cc/min; the spinning speed of the spinning process was 1 m/min; sodium sulfate aqueous solution (5%) served as the coagulating bath; and, the temperature of the coagulating bath was 25° C. Next, the fiber fineness of Conductive fiber (1) was measured with a scanning electron microscope (JEOL JSM-6480), and the resistance of Conductive fiber (1) was measured using a resistance meter (RM3544, made by Hioki Co., Ltd.). The results are shown in Table 1.
Polyvinyl alcohol (with a trade number of BF-24) and waterborne polyurethane (with a trade number of Paramillion AF36) were dissolved in deionized water, obtaining a first solution (with a solid content of 12 wt % u, based on the total weight of water, polyvinyl alcohol, and waterborne polyurethane) (wherein the weight ratio of polyvinyl alcohol to waterborne polyurethane was 9:1). In addition, the dendritic silver powder (serving as a conductive material) was dispersed in deionized water, obtaining a second solution (the weight ratio of the conductive material to water was 20:80). Next, the first solution was added to the second solution (wherein the weight ratio of the first solution to the second solution was 5:5). Next, after stirring at 50° C. for 120 minutes (with a stirring rate of 100 rpm), the dendritic silver powder was fully dispersed in the aforementioned first solution, obtaining a third solution. Polyurethane (serving as an elastic polymer) (fabricated by Formosa Asahi spandex, with a trade number of Roica) was dissolved in N,N-dimethyl acetamide, obtaining a fourth solution (with a solid content of 15 wt %). Next, the third solution was used as a spinning solution of the inner spinning nozzle, and the fourth solution was used as a spinning solution of the outer spinning nozzle. The third solution and the fourth solution were subjected to a wet spinning process via a spinning device with two spinning nozzles, obtaining Conductive fiber (2) with a core-shell structure (wherein waterborne polyurethane/polyvinyl alcohol/dendritic silver powder composed the core portion, and the polyurethane composed the shell portion). The spinning process was performed under the following conditions: the inner spinning nozzle had a diameter of 0.6 mm; the outer spinning nozzle had a diameter of 1.0 mm; the spinning temperature was about 50° C.; the inner spinning nozzle had a liquid flow speed of 3.6 cc/min; the outer spinning nozzle had a liquid flow speed of 2.4 cc/min; the spinning speed of the spinning process was 1 m/min; sodium sulfate aqueous solution (5%) served as the coagulating bath; and, the temperature of the coagulating bath was 25° C. Next, the fiber fineness of Conductive fiber (2) was measured with a scanning electron microscope (JEOL JSM-6480), and the resistance of Conductive fiber (2) was measured using a resistance meter (RM3544, made by Hioki Co., Ltd.). The results are shown in Table 1.
Polyvinyl alcohol (with a trade number of BF-24) and waterborne polyurethane (with a trade number of Paramillion AF36) were dissolved in deionized water, obtaining a first solution (with a solid content of 12 wt %, based on the total weight of water, polyvinyl alcohol, and waterborne polyurethane) (wherein the weight ratio of polyvinyl alcohol to waterborne polyurethane was 9:1). In addition, the dendritic silver powder (serving as a conductive material) was dispersed in deionized water, obtaining a second solution (the weight ratio of the conductive material to the water was 20:80). Next, the first solution was added to the second solution (wherein the weight ratio of the first solution to the second solution was 5:5). Next, after stirring at 50° C. for 120 minutes (with a stirring rate of 100 rpm), the dendritic silver powder was fully dispersed in the aforementioned first solution, obtaining a third solution. Next, the third solution was used as a spinning solution of the inner spinning nozzle, and sodium sulfate aqueous solution (5%) was used as a spinning solution of the outer spinning nozzle. The third solution and the sodium sulfate aqueous solution were subjected to a wet spinning process via a spinning device with two spinning nozzles, obtaining hollow Conductive fiber (3). The spinning process was performed under the following conditions: the inner spinning nozzle had a diameter of 1.0 mm; the outer spinning nozzle had a diameter of 1.9 mm; the spinning temperature was about 50° C.; the inner spinning nozzle had a liquid flow speed of 0.6 cc/min; the outer spinning nozzle had a liquid flow speed of 2.1 cc/min; the spinning speed of the spinning process was 15 m/min; sodium sulfate aqueous solution (5%) served as the coagulating bath; and, the temperature of the coagulating bath was 25° C. Next, the fiber fineness of Conductive fiber (3) was measured with a scanning electron microscope (JEOL JSM-6480), and the resistance of Conductive fiber (3) was measured using a resistance meter (RM3544, made by Hioki Co., Ltd.). The results are shown in Table 1.
Polyvinyl alcohol (with a trade number of BF-24) and waterborne polyurethane (with a trade number of Paramillion AF36) were dissolved in deionized water, obtaining a first solution (with a solid content of 12 wt %, based on the total weight of water, polyvinyl alcohol, and waterborne polyurethane) (wherein the weight ratio of polyvinyl alcohol to waterborne polyurethane was 9:1). In addition, the dendritic silver powder (serving as a conductive material) was dispersed in deionized water, obtaining a second solution (the weight ratio of the conductive material to the water was 20:80). Next, the first solution was added to the second solution (the weight ratio of the first solution to the second solution was 4:6). Next, after stirring at 50° C. for 120 minutes (with a stirring rate of 100 rpm), the dendritic silver powder was fully dispersed in the aforementioned first solution, obtaining a third solution. Polyurethane (serving as elastic polymer) (fabricated by Formosa Asahi spandex, with a trade number of Roica) was dissolved in N,N-dimethyl acetamide, obtaining a fourth solution (the weight ratio of polyurethane to dimethylacetamide was 15:85). Next, the third solution was used as a spinning solution of the inner spinning nozzle, and the fourth solution was used as a spinning solution of the outer spinning nozzle. The third solution and the fourth solution were subjected to a wet spinning process via a spinning device with two spinning nozzles, obtaining Conductive fiber (4) with a core-shell structure (wherein waterborne polyurethane/polyvinyl alcohol/dendritic silver powder composed the core portion, and the polyurethane composed the shell portion). The spinning process was performed under the following conditions: the inner spinning nozzle had a diameter of 1.0 mm; the outer spinning nozzle had a diameter of 0.6 mm; the spinning temperature was about 50° C.; the inner spinning nozzle had a liquid flow speed of 3.6 cc/min; the outer spinning nozzle had a liquid flow speed of 2.4 cc/min; the spinning speed of the spinning process was 1 m/min; sodium sulfate aqueous solution (5%) served as the coagulating bath; and, the temperature of the coagulating bath was 25° C. Next, the fiber fineness of Conductive fiber (4) was measured with a scanning electron microscope (JEOL JSM-6480), and the resistance of Conductive fiber (4) was measured using a resistance meter (RM3544, made by Hioki Co., Ltd.). The results are shown in Table 1.
Polyvinyl alcohol (with a trade number of BF-24) was dissolved in deionized water, obtaining a first solution (the weight ratio of polyvinyl alcohol to water was 12:88). In addition, the dendritic silver powder (serving as a conductive material) was dispersed in deionized water, obtaining a second solution (the weight ratio of the conductive material to the water was 20:80). Next, the first solution was added to the second solution (wherein the weight ratio of the first solution to the second solution was 5:5). Next, after stirring at 50° C. for 120 minutes (with a stirring rate of 100 rpm), the dendritic silver powder was fully dispersed in the aforementioned first solution, obtaining a third solution. The third solution was used as a spinning solution of the spinning nozzle. Next, the third solution serving as a spinning solution was subjected to a wet spinning process via a spinning device, obtaining solid conductive fiber (5). The spinning process was performed under the following conditions: the spinning nozzle had a diameter of 1.0 mm; the spinning temperature was about 50° C.; the spinning nozzle had a liquid flow speed of 3.0 cc/min; the spinning speed of the spinning process was 1 m/min; sodium sulfate aqueous solution (5%) served as the coagulating bath; and, the temperature of the coagulating bath was 25° C. Next, the fiber fineness of Conductive fiber (5) was measured with a scanning electron microscope (JEOL JSM-6480), and the resistance of Conductive fiber (5) was measured using a resistance meter (RM3544, made by Hioki Co., Ltd.). The results are shown in Table 1.
Polyvinyl alcohol (with a trade number of BF-24) and waterborne polyurethane (with a trade number of Paramillion AF36) were dissolved in deionized water, obtaining a first solution (with a solid content of 12 wt %, based on the total weight of water, polyvinyl alcohol, and waterborne polyurethane) (wherein the weight ratio of polyvinyl alcohol to waterborne polyurethane was 9:1). In addition, the dendritic silver powder (serving as a conductive material) was dispersed in deionized water, obtaining a second solution (the weight ratio of the conductive material to the water was 20:80). Next, the first solution was added to the second solution (the weight ratio of the first solution to the second solution was 3.5:6.5). Next, after stirring at 50° C. for 120 minutes (with a stirring rate of 100 rpm), the dendritic silver powder was fully dispersed in the aforementioned first solution, obtaining a third solution. The third solution was used as a spinning solution of the spinning nozzle. Next, the third solution serving as a spinning solution was subjected to a wet spinning process via a spinning device, obtaining solid conductive fiber (6). The spinning process was performed under the following conditions: the spinning nozzle had a diameter of 1.0 mm; the spinning temperature was about 50° C.; the spinning nozzle had a liquid flow speed of 3.0 cc/min; the spinning speed of the spinning process was 1 m/min sodium sulfate aqueous solution (5%) served as the coagulating bath; and, the temperature of the coagulating bath was 25° C. Next, the fiber fineness of Conductive fiber (6) was measured with a scanning electron microscope (JEOL JSM-6480), and the resistance of Conductive fiber (6) was measured using a resistance meter (RM3544, made by Hioki Co., Ltd.). The results are shown in Table 1.
Polyvinyl alcohol (with a trade number of BF-24) and (with a trade number of Paramillion AF36) were dissolved in deionized water, obtaining a first solution (with a solid content of 12 wt %, based on the total weight of water, polyvinyl alcohol, and waterorne polyurethane) (wherein the weight ratio of polyvinyl alcohol to waterborne polyurethane was 9:1). In addition, flake-like silver powder (serving as a conductive material) (fabricated by AgPro technology Inc., with a trade number of SYP981) (having a diameter of 50:9 μm) was dispersed in deionized water, obtaining a second solution (the weight ratio of the conductive material to the water was 20:80). Next, the first solution was added to the second solution (wherein the weight ratio of the first solution to the second solution was 5:5). Next, after stirring at 50° C. for 120 minutes (with a stirring rate of 100 rpm), the dendritic silver powder was fully dispersed in the aforementioned first solution, obtaining a third solution. The third solution was used as a spinning solution of the spinning nozzle. Next, the third solution serving as a spinning solution was subjected to a wet spinning process via a spinning device, obtaining solid conductive fiber (7). The spinning process was performed under the following conditions: the spinning nozzle had a diameter of 1.0 mm; the spinning temperature was about 50° C.; the spinning nozzle had a liquid flow speed of 3.0 cc/min; the spinning speed of the spinning process was 1 m/min sodium sulfate aqueous solution (5%) served as the coagulating bath; and, the temperature of the coagulating bath was 25° C. Next, the fiber fineness of Conductive fiber (7) was measured with a scanning electron microscope (JEOL JSM-6480), and the resistance of Conductive fiber (7) was measured using a resistance meter (RM3544, made by Hioki Co., Ltd.). The results are shown in Table 1.
Polyvinyl alcohol (with a trade number of BF-24) and waterborne polyurethane (with a trade number of Paramillion AF36) were dissolved in deionized water, obtaining a first solution (with a solid content of 12 wt %, based on the total weight of water, polyvinyl alcohol, and waterborne polyurethane) (wherein the weight ratio of polyvinyl alcohol to waterborne polyurethane was 9:1). In addition, nano silver wire (serving as a conductive material) (having a diameter of 60 nm, and a length of 22 μm) was dispersed in deionized water, obtaining a second solution (the weight ratio of the conductive material to the water was 20:80). Next, the first solution was added to the second solution (wherein the weight ratio of the first solution to the second solution was 5:5). Next, after stirring at 50° C. for 120 minutes (with a stirring rate of 100 rpm), the silver nanowire was fully dispersed in the aforementioned first solution, obtaining a third solution. The third solution was used as a spinning solution of the spinning nozzle. Next, the third solution serving as a spinning solution was subjected to a wet spinning process via a spinning device, obtaining solid conductive fiber (8). The spinning process was performed under the following conditions: the spinning nozzle had a diameter of 1.0 mm; the spinning temperature was about 50° C.; the spinning nozzle had a liquid flow speed of 3.0 cc/min; the spinning speed of the spinning process was 1 m/min; sodium sulfate aqueous solution (5%) served as the coagulating bath; and, the temperature of the coagulating bath was 25° C. Next, the fiber fineness of Conductive fiber (8) was measured with a scanning electron microscope (JEOL JSM-6480), and the resistance of Conductive fiber (8) was measured using a resistance meter (RM3544, made by Hioki Co., Ltd.). The results are shown in Table 1.
Polyvinyl alcohol (with a trade number of BF-24) and waterborne polyurethane (serving as elastic polymer) (with a trade number of Paramillion AF36) were dissolved in deionized water (wherein the weight ratio of polyvinyl alcohol to waterborne polyurethane was 9:1), obtaining a first solution (with a solid content of 12 wt %, based on the total weight of water, polyvinyl alcohol, and waterborne polyurethane) (wherein the weight ratio of polyvinyl alcohol to waterborne polyurethane was 9:1). In addition, the dendritic silver powder was dispersed in deionized water, obtaining a second solution (the weight ratio of the conductive material to the water was 20:80). Next, the first solution was added to the second solution (the weight ratio of the first solution to the second solution was 8:2). Next, after stirring at 50° C. for 120 minutes (with a stirring rate of 100 rpm), the dendritic silver powder was fully dispersed in the aforementioned first solution, obtaining a third solution. The third solution was used as a spinning solution of the spinning nozzle. Next, the third solution serving as a spinning solution was subjected to a wet spinning process via a spinning device, obtaining solid conductive fiber (9). The spinning process was performed under the following conditions: the spinning nozzle had a diameter of 1.0 mm; the spinning temperature was about 50° C.; the spinning nozzle had a liquid flow speed of 3.0 cc/min; the spinning speed of the spinning process was 1 m/min; sodium sulfate aqueous solution (5%) served as the coagulating bath; and, the temperature of the coagulating bath was 25° C. Next, the fiber fineness of Conductive fiber (9) was measured with a scanning electron microscope (JEOL JSM-6480), and the resistance of Conductive fiber (9) was measured using a resistance meter (RM3544, made by Hioki Co., Ltd.). The results are shown in Table 1.
Polyvinyl alcohol (with a trade number of BF-24) and waterborne polyurethane (with a trade number of Paramillion AF36) were dissolved in deionized water, obtaining a first solution (with a solid content of 12 wt % c, based on the total weight of water, polyvinyl alcohol, and waterborne polyurethane) (wherein the weight ratio of polyvinyl alcohol to waterborne polyurethane was 9:1). In addition, the dendritic silver powder was dispersed in deionized water, obtaining a second solution (the weight ratio of the conductive material to the water was 20:80). Next, the first solution was added to the second solution (the weight ratio of the first solution to the second solution was 2.5:7.5). Next, after stirring at 50° C. for 120 minutes (with a stirring rate of 100 rpm), a mixed solution was obtained. The obtained mixed solution showed a partial aggregation state, and the solution had dendritic silver powder precipitated out. A resulting phase separation was observed. Thus, it was impossible to perform spinning processing with the mixed solution. Next, the fiber fineness of Conductive fiber (10) was measured with a scanning electron microscope (JEOL JSM-6480), and the resistance of Conductive fiber (10) was measured using a resistance meter (RM3544, made by Hioki Co., Ltd.). The results are shown in Table 1.
The method for fabricating the conductive fiber of the disclosure employs conductive materials with a specific shape (such as a dendritic or snowflake-like shape). Since the conductive materials can be uniformly dispersed in the spinnable polymer, and since the conductive materials with a specific branched structure constitute a network structure, the conductive fiber has low electrical resistance. As a result, not much conductive material needs to be added to give the conductive fiber good electrical characteristics. The conductive material of the disclosure can also be used with an elastic polymer for preparing a solid conductive fiber, a hollow conductive fiber, or a conductive fiber with a core-shell structure.
Accordingly, in comparison with conventional conductive materials (such as flake-like silver powder or nano silver wire), the electrically conductive path composed by the dendritic silver powder exhibits great conductivity due to the multiple contact points. In addition, since the multiple contact points do not damage easily after washing, the conductive fiber exhibits high laundry resistance. Furthermore, conventional conductive fibers are apt to lose their electrical conductivity after stretching since the touch point is damaged. In contrast, since the conductive fiber including dendritic silver powders has a large number of contact points and exhibits high damage tolerance, the conductive fiber of the disclosure can maintain better conductive properties. Therefore, the conductive fibers made of dendritic silver powder have the advantages of high wearing comfort and low resistance when wearing.
It will be clear that various modifications and variations can be made to the disclosed methods and materials. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope of the disclosure being indicated by the following claims and their equivalents.
