title: Nylon-Graphene Composite Nonwovens as Monolithic Conductive or Capacitive Fabrics.
abstract: Here we describe a nylon-graphene nonwoven (NGN) composite, prepared via melt-blowing of nylon-6 into nonwoven fabrics and infiltrate those with graphene oxide (GO) in aqueous dispersions, which were further chemically reduced into graphene to offer electrical conductivity. The correlation between the conductivity and the graphene loading is described by the percolation scaling law σ = (p - pc)t, with an exponent t of 1.2 and a critical concentration pcof 0.005 wt %, the lowest among all the nylon composites reported. Monolithic supercapacitors have been further developed on the nylon-GO nonwoven composites (NGO), via a programed CO2-laser patterning process. The nylon nonwoven works as an efficient matrix, providing high capacity to GO and ensuring enough electrode materials generated via the subsequent laser patterning processes. Our best monolithic supercapacitors exhibited an areal capacitance of 10.37 mF cm-2in PVA-H2SO4electrolyte, much higher than the 1-3 mF cm-2reported for typical microsupercapacitors. Moreover, our supercapacitors were able to retain a capacitance density of 5.07 mF cm-2at an ultrahigh scan rate (1 V s-1), probably due to the facilitated ion migration within the highly porous nonwoven framework. This is the first report of highly functional nylon-6 nonwovens, fabricated via industrially scalable pathways into low-cost conductive polymer matrices and disposable energy storage systems.
authors.affiliation: The Nonwovens Institute, College of Textiles, North Carolina State University , Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States.|Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry & Science, College of Textiles, North Carolina State University , Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States.
authors.forename: Qin
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1513-1842
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: The Nonwovens Institute, College of Textiles, North Carolina State University , Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States.|Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry & Science, College of Textiles, North Carolina State University , Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States.
authors.forename: Eunkyoung
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.affiliation: The Nonwovens Institute, College of Textiles, North Carolina State University , Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States.|Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry & Science, College of Textiles, North Carolina State University , Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States.
authors.forename: Behnam
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pourdeyhimi
authors.affiliation: The Nonwovens Institute, College of Textiles, North Carolina State University , Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States.|Department of Textile Engineering, Chemistry & Science, College of Textiles, North Carolina State University , Raleigh, North Carolina 27695, United States.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gao
keywords: conductive polymer composites; graphene oxide (GO); monolithic supercapacitors; nonwoven; nylon-6