Mussel-inspired polyaniline/dopamine synergistically modified cotton fabric as a surface functionalization strategy...

Cotton fabric, as a natural cellulose-based substrate, holds considerable promise for advanced flexible electronics. However, the inherent high interfacial energy mismatch between hydrophobic graphitic layers of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and the hydrophilic cellulose surface of cotton textiles leads to severe CNTs aggregation and poor interfacial adhesion. To overcome this challenge, we devised a biomimetic dual in-situ polymerization strategy that synergistically integrates polydopamine (PDA) and polyaniline (PANI) coatings onto cotton fibers. The hierarchically modified conductive network maintains the intrinsic stretchability of the knitted fabric while enabling a high gauge factor of -3.7 under tensile strain. Notably, the in-situ polymerization of PANI onto CNTs surfaces fabricates a nanostructured conductive coating that generates an energy filtering effect, leading to a remarkable enhancement of the Seebeck coefficient to 30.8 μV·K^-1. Finite element simulation further validated the thermoelectric response performance of modular thermocouple arrays based on the modified fabrics. This work establishes a novel paradigm for developing multifunctional smart textiles integrating high-performance thermoelectric energy conversion and precise strain sensing capabilities.