Bio-Inspired Green Strategy to Fabricate Wool Yarns Decorated with Hierarchical Structure for Multifunctional Fabrics Applied in Healthcare Electronics

Abstract

In order to comply with the demand of versatility for protective materials applied in healthcare electronics, the textile substrates exhibiting responses to multiple functions simultaneously are fabricated with the deposition of various functional conductive components. In this work, a multilevel integration of AgNPs/CNT/MXene (SACM) is primarily constructed by the help of silk sericin (SS) via a green one-step method. SS functions as the stabilizer and bio-compatibilizer for nanomaterials, as well as the reductant for metal ions through reduction-coupled adsorption mechanism. Inspired by the natural manner of spreading plant seeds by adhering to animal fur, the functional decoration for wool yarns (WYs) is achieved by the in-situ polymerization of polypyrrole (PPy) and loading of SACM, exhibiting feasibility in green fabrication of versatile fabric (SACM/PPy/WY-F). Contributed by the establishment of AgNPs/CNT/MXene/PPy hierarchical structure, the as-prepared SACM/PPy/WY-F exhibits effective EMI shielding property (22.5 dB) in the X band, with significant flame retardancy (V-0 rating in UL-94 test), superior antibiosis against E. coli and favorable joule heating performance, indicating the promising application prospects in healthcare wearable electronics.

Keywords: Bio-inspired strategy, multifunctional fabric, environment-friendly fabrication, protein-based biomaterials