Development of colorful graphene-based wearable e-textiles prepared by co-dyeing cotton fabrics with natural dyes and reduced graphene oxide

Herein, pre-mordanted cotton fabrics were co-dyed with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and natural dyes to create eco-friendly and colorful graphene-based wearable electronic textiles (e-textiles), and their physical color attributes were analyzed as functions of dyeing conditions, namely rGO loading (0, 1, 3, 5, and 7% owb), mordant type (Al, Cu, and Fe salts), and natural dye type (cochineal, rhubarb, and gardenia blue). The lightness of the obtained samples increased in the order of cochineal < gardenia blue < rhubarb and was lower for Fe-mordanted textiles than for Al- and Cu-mordanted ones (by 4.91 L * 10 on average) regardless of the natural dye and rGO loading. Rhubarb- and gardenia blue–dyed fabrics showed broad chroma and hue dispersions, which indicated that dyeing conditions strongly impacted these color attributes. With increasing rGO loading, the chroma of rhubarb-dyed fabrics substantially decreased, i.e., the color became less saturated. The initial greenish blue color of gardenia blue–dyed fabrics gradually changed to yellowish green and then to yellowish. Furthermore, dramatic overall color changes (Δ E CMC(2:1) ) occurred with increasing rGO loading regardless of natural dye type, averaging to 7.60, 11.14, 12.68, and 13.56 at rGO loadings of 1, 3, 5, and 7% owb.