Study of electrothermal properties of silver nanowire/polydopamine/cotton-based nanocomposites

Abstract In this study, cotton fabrics were reported to be typically functionalized by loading silver nanowires (AgNW) on the surface of the polydopamine modified cotton fabric. Firstly, AgNW were prepared by a polyol method and then a polydopamine-modified cotton fabric was prepared by being immersed in AgNW dispersion by the dip-coating method. The resulting silver nanowire/polydopamine/cotton-based nanocomposites (APCN) has a surface specific resistance as low as 2.4 Ω and has good durability and flexibility. In addition, the electrothermal properties of APCN were investigated by applied voltage. The result showed that the composite material can reach 80 °C in a short time under the voltage of 1.8 V, and conform to the power balance model. The steady-state temperature of the composite material is closely related to the voltage, and has a quadratic relationship with the voltage and expresses linear relation with the electric power. Graphical abstract