Development of Conductive Cotton Non-woven Alginate Hydrogel Composite for Smart Textiles

Conductive fabrics are important because they can be used to create clothing and other textiles that can conduct electricity, allowing them to be used in various applications such as wearable technology, medical devices, and military equipment. The use of hydrogels for the development of conductive fabrics can increase the possibilities to enhance its usage in various fields, especially in the biomedical industry. In this study, cotton non-woven alginate conductive hydrogel is synthesized by sol-gel method. Three different concentrations of sodium alginate (0.5%, 1%, and 1.5%) and silver nitrate (05%, 10%, and 15%) were used to analyse their impact on performance of non-woven conductive hydrogel. These prepared composite structures of conductive hydrogels were characterized by employing surface resistance testing, X-rays diffraction, SEM and FTIR spectroscopy. The results showed that the composite with 1% wt. of sodium alginate with 15% wt. of silver nitrate has the best surface resistivity values below 100 Ohm per square. This non-woven conductive hydrogel has the potential to be used in smart textiles and other technical textiles.