ORIGINAL ARTICLE Nanocomposite polyester fabric based on graphene/titanium dioxide for conducting and UV protection functionality Ravindra D. Kale 1 • Tejasvi Potdar 1 • Prerana Kane 1 • Rahul Singh 1 Received: 28 May 2018 / Revised: 27 August 2018 / Accepted: 28 August 2018 Ó Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018 Abstract An efficient process for fabrication of electroconductive, antistatic, ultraviolet rays protective polyester fabric using a graphene/titanium dioxide (graphene/TiO 2 ) nanocomposite is prepared. Polyester fabric was treated with graphene oxide (GO) using a simple exhaust method. The GO-treated polyester fabric was then immersed in TiCl 3 aqueous solution which acted as reducing agent to yield a fabric coated with graphene/TiO 2 nanocomposite. The treated fabric was characterised by X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Surface resistivity, volume resistivity, static charge decay time and ultraviolet protection factor of treated fabric were also assessed. The electrical conductivity of the graphene/TiO 2 nanocomposite-coated fabrics was improved significantly by the presence of graphene on the surface of polyester fabrics. Nanocomposite fabric also showed excellent mechanical properties and hydrophobicity. It also exhibited protection from UV radiations as shown by higher UPF due to the presence of titanium on the fabric surface. Keywords Electroconductive textile Á Antistatic Á Ultraviolet protective Á Graphene Á Hydrophobic 1 Introduction Graphene is one-atom-thick planar sheets of sp2-bonded carbon atoms that are densely packed into a 2D honey- comb crystal lattice [1]. Graphene has recently gained keen interest owing to its outstanding electronic and excitonic properties [2, 3]. Graphene with high electrical conductivity can serve as new nanoscale building blocks to create unique electroconductive materials. Unique properties have been observed in graphene, including high electrical conductivity [4], ultra-high carrier mobility [5], exceptional thermal conductivity [6, 7] and excellent mechanical stiffness [8]. A conductive textile is a fab- ric which can conduct electricity. Conductive textiles are generally used in electronic textiles. E-textiles are fabrics that allow computing, digital components and electronics to be embedded in them. Electroconductive textiles can be made using metal strands or metallic fibres mixed with textile fibres woven into the construction of the textile. However, because both metals and classical semicon- ductors are rigid material, they are not very suitable for textile fibre application since fibres are subjected to a high degree of stretch and bending during their application. There is also an interest in semiconducting textiles, made by impregnating normal textiles with intrinsically con- ducting polymers, graphene, carbon black, carbon nan- otubes or metal-based powders [9–11]. Coating of conducting polyaniline on to a flexible substrate such as polyester fabric can retain the flexibility of the fabrics and the electrical conductivity of the conducting polymers [12]. Electroconductive cotton textiles were successfully prepared using graphene. GO nanosheets were deposited on the cotton fibres via ‘‘dip and dry’’ method followed by chemical reduction which caused their conversion into conductive graphene, using hydrazine as a reducing agent [13]. Skin cancers have made people increasingly aware & Ravindra D. Kale rd.kale@ictmumbai.edu.in Tejasvi Potdar tejupotdar29@gmail.com Prerana Kane preranakane@gmail.com Rahul Singh rahulkrsinghmokama@gmail.com 1 Department of Fibres and Textile Processing Technology, Institute of Chemical Technology, Matunga (E), Mumbai 400019, India 123 Graphene Technology https://doi.org/10.1007/s41127-018-0021-1