Rapid Copper Metallization of Textile Materials: a Controlled Two-Step Route to Achieve User-Defined Patterns under Ambient Conditions

摘要

Throughout history earth-abundant copper has been incorporated into textiles and it still caters to various needs in modern society. In this paper, we present a two-step copper metallization strategy to realize sequentially non-diffusive copper(II) patterning and rapid copper deposition on various textile materials, including cotton, polyester, nylon, and their mixtures. A new, cost-effective formulation is designed to minimize the copper pattern migration on textiles and to achieve user-defined copper patterns. The metallized copper is found to be very adhesive and stable against washing and oxidation. Furthermore, the copper-metallized textile exhibits excellent electrical conductivity that is times better than that of stainless steel and also inhibits the growth of bacteria effectively. This new copper metallization approach holds great promise as a commercially viable method to metallize an insulating textile, opening up research avenues for wearable electronics and functional garments.