Research into electro-conductive textiles based on conductive polymers like polypyrrole has increased in recent years due to their high potential applications in various fields. Conductive polymers behave like insulators in their neutral states, with typical electrical conductivity in the range 10^–10 to 10^–25 Scm^–1. These neutral polymers can be converted into semi-conductive or conductive states with conductivities ranging from 1 Scm^–1 to 10^–4 Scm^–1 through chemical or electro-chemical redox reactions. By applying these polymers to a textile surface, we can obtain novel composites that are strong, flexible, lightweight, and highly electroconductive. These textile composites are suitable for applications such as heating pads, sensors, corrosion-protecting materials, actuators, electrochromic devices, EMI shielding, etc. The methods of application of conductive polymers onto the textile surface, such as in-situ chemical, in-situ electrochemical, in-situ vapor phase, in-situ polymerization in a supercritical fluid, and solution coating processes, are described here briefly. The merits and demerits of these methods are mentioned here. The reaction mechanisms of chemical and electrochemical polymerization proposed by the different researchers are described. Different factors affecting the kinetics of chemical and electrochemical polymerization are accounted for. The influence of textile materials on the kinetics of chemical polymerization is reviewed and reported.

In this study, robust and defect-free thin film composite (TFC) forward osmosis (FO) membranes have been successfully fabricated using ceramic hollow fibers as the substrate. Polydopamine (PDA) coating under controlled conditions is effective in reducing the surface pores of the substrate and making the substrate smooth enough for interfacial polymerization. The pure water permeability (A), solute permeability (B), and structural parameter (S) of the resultant FO membrane are 0.854 L·m^–2·h⁻¹·bar⁻¹ (LMH/Bar), 0.186 L·m^–2·h⁻¹ (LMH), and 1720 µm, respectively. The water flux and reverse draw solute flux are measured using NaCl and proprietary ferric sodium citrate (FeNaCA) draw solutions at low and high osmotic pressure ranges. As the osmotic pressure increases, a higher water flux is obtained, but its increase is not directly proportional to the increase in the osmotic pressure. At the membrane surface, the effect of dilutive concentration polarization is much less serious for FeNaCA-draw solutions. At an osmotic pressure of 89.6 bar, the developed TFC membrane generates water fluxes of 11.5 and 30.0 LMH using NaCl and synthesized FeNaCA draw solutions. The corresponding reverse draw solute flux is 7.0 g·m^–2·h⁻¹ (gMH) for NaCl draw solution, but it is not detectable for FeNaCA draw solution. This means that the developed TFC FO membranes are defect-free and their surface pores are at the molecular level. The performance of the developed TFC FO membranes is also demonstrated for the enrichment of BSA protein.

The development of flexible, wearable electronic devices is one of the future directions of technology development. Flexible conductive materials are important supporting materials for wearable electronic devices. Polymer has excellent flexibility; it is an important way to prepare flexible conductors from polymer-based conductive composites. In this paper, the research progress of polymer-based flexible conductive composites is summarized in terms of preparation and characterization methods. The key factors to realize flexible conductors are put forward, namely, the maintenance of excellent polymer elasticity and the realization of stability. The design and preparation of the extensible conductor with high-elasticity matrix and nanofiller are introduced in detail, and the problems in the current research are summarized.