Development and Characterization of High‐Performance Conductive Coatings on Cotton Yarn for Advanced Machine‐Sewn Electronic Textiles

Abstract This study explores the development and characterization of conductive coatings applied to cotton yarns for machine‐sewn electronic textiles. namely 100% pure undyed, fully bleached, and half bleached, are dip‐coated with two solutions: the conductive carbon paste (CCP) solution and the PEDOT:PSS (5 wt.%)/CCP (55.8 wt.%) solution. Each yarn is coated and dried three times, followed by cross‐linking with a 2% CaCl₂ solution. Extensive testing, including electrochemical, SEM, tensile, FTIR, XPS, TGA, DTG, linear density, machine sewing, and wash durability, is performed. The half‐bleached yarn coated with CCP exhibits the highest conductivity (19.46 ± 0.240 Scm⁻¹) and density (65.33 ± 1.1 Tex), and the pure undyed yarn coated with PEDOT:PSS/CCP at 1.913 ± 0.007 Scm⁻¹. Both coatings demonstrated durability, retaining conductivity, and strength after multiple washing cycles, with values of 18.70 ± 0.32 and 1.90 ± 0.007 Scm⁻¹ post‐wash. Thermal analysis (TGA and DSC) indicates improved stability, with Tm values reaching 273.66 and 280.38 °C for CCP and PEDOT/CCP coatings, respectively. FTIR and XPS confirmed strong chemical bonding, ensuring robust adhesion. These results suggest the feasibility of cost‐effective, bio‐compatible, and durable conductive yarns for advanced electronic textile applications.