Engineering graphene-coated knitted yarns for advanced comfort and functionality in textiles

Textiles offer an excellent opportunity to fabricate flexible, functional materials commercially. However, functionalizing the textile materials adversely affects their comfort properties, leading to unmarketable products. The current research studied the comfort properties of graphene-coated cotton, polyester, and nylon fabrics by varying graphene oxide (GO) concentration solutions and coating cycles on its yarns to manufacture knitted fabrics. Subsequently, the GO coating was reduced to reduced graphene oxide (rGO) by sodium hydrosulfite. FTIR, SEM, and Zeta sizer results showed the successful synthesis and dispersion of rGO coating over the fabric with an average particle size of 328 nm. The coating was optimized at 2% concentration and 3 cycles for the highest performance of comfort characteristics for cotton polyester and nylon fabrics. The Ultraviolet protection factor was increased from 98 to 1773 for cotton, 107 to 1990 for polyester, and 177 to 1971 for nylon fabrics. The surface resistivity of fabrics was lowered by 43%, 50%, and 96% for cotton, polyester, and nylon, respectively. Moreover, thermal resistance was reduced by 83%, 50%, and 92% for cotton, nylon, and polyester fabrics, respectively. Sample fabrics showed 68%, 24%, and 18% higher OMMC for cotton, polyester, and nylon, respectively. In hand feel, fabrics showed better wrinkle recovery and resilience. While softness and smoothness of cotton and polyester fabrics reduced slightly, in contrast nylon fabric showed a noticeable decline in both. Moreover, fabric retained sufficient performance after 5 laundry cycles, while outperforming relative pristine fabrics. Hence, graphene-coated fabrics offer exceptional UV protection, thermal regulation, and moisture management, enhancing textile comfort significantly.