Untreated 100% Cotton fabric (woven, GSM 95) was procured from a local factory in Bangladesh (Noman Group). The primary chemicals were purchased from the mentioned condition and sources: Aniline (Sigma Aldrich, 99% Purity), Ammonium Persulphate (Sigma Aldrich, 98%), Sodium hydroxide (v/V 5%, RM Chemical, Malaysia), Hydrogen chloride (Conc. 37%, RM Chemical, Malaysia), Acetone (Conc. 99.5%, RM Chemicals, Malaysia). Double distilled water is used for the whole study.

The raw Cotton fabric was cut into a dimension of 15 cm × 5 cm. Pretreatment on the fabric was performed to remove the adhered dirt and oil and improve the absorbency of the fabric. This process is performed by soaking the material in a Sodium hydroxide (5%) solution for 10 min. The treated fabric is then washed with distilled water, followed by drying (at 60°C) [15]. A monomer solution was prepared for this experiment by adding 2 ml of Aniline into 50 ml of HCl solution of varied concentrations (1, 2, and 3 M). 50 ml each of a 1, 2, and 3 M HCl solution and 5 g of ammonium persulphate (APS) were mixed, respectively. The polymerization process was commenced upon the addition of respective APS solution dropwise. This reaction is anticipated to be exothermic. Subsequently, to keep the reaction temperature under 5°C, the whole reaction media was performed in an ice bath [24]. The reaction continued for 1.5 h. Meantime, with the reaction progression, the color of the solution changes from Blue to Green. With the dropwise addition of APS (Oxidant), the Aniline mixed Dopant solution starts the first phase of the reaction by forming a Polyaniline emeraldine base (PANI-EB). It was Blue, and upon continuous addition of APS solution, the solution turned to emeraldine green. This color change indicates the successful formation of Polyaniline (PANI). A glass rod was occasionally stirred to maintain a homogeneous reaction throughout the reaction bath. The PANI-coated fabric was removed from the reaction bath after completing the polymerization. The solution is filtered, followed by subsequent drying (at 60°C) to collect the PANI particle for further characterization. Meanwhile, any residual unfixed Aniline monomers are removed using acetone and thoroughly washed with distilled water. As a final step, the fabric sample was dried (at 60°C) in a woven overnight and then ready for characterization.

From the PANI-coated Cotton fabric, noticeable differences can be observed with plain eyesight. Due to successful in-situ polymerization, the appearance of the treated fabric changes from white to emeraldine green. This color change signifies the successful impregnation of emeraldine salt on Cotton fabric [25]. The surface orientation can also be observed from the Scanning Electron Microscopic (SEM) image. The surface of the untreated Cotton is notably more smooth, cylindrical, and flat, as seen in Fig. 1a. In contrast, Fig. 1b reveals a different version of the surface with rough and irregular granular particles adhered to the fiber strand. It is further observed from the other magnified images.

Upon successful polymerization, the PANI particles adhere to the fabric surface in irregular granular forms. The shape of the PANI dendrites is not well defined. However, they flocked together on the fabric surface, as shown in Figs. 2b and 2c. Their formation can be justified compared to the pristine Cotton surface as in Fig. 2a. A dispersion of PANI was seen along the length of the fiber in the magnified SEM picture Fig. 2d. Additionally, the deposited PANI concentration is greater around the ridges and pores than on the surface. It can be understood that the synthesized PANI made it to the inner spaces of the fiber. Furthermore, Fig. 2d reveals a thin, film-like formation behind the PANI cluster formation, which affirms the continuous layer of PANI on the yarn strand. This was also validated by elemental analysis and electrical conductivity analysis.

Additional size distribution analysis revealed the range of particle sizes using ImageJ software. The average size of the PANI is 91.98528 nm. The marked areas are depicted in Fig. 3a, and the Histogram is in Fig. 3b.

From the elemental mapping (Fig. 4) presence of polymer substances and a uniform layer of distributed materials are observed throughout the outer layer of the Cotton fabric. The presence of N (Nitrogen) confirms the formation of PANI. Cl- is due to treatment with HCl. Although the main constituent is C, (Carbon) comes from the Cellulose structure. However, a homogenous distribution of other elements, specially N, is observed through the fabric surface. This signifies a successful polymerization and a coating layer.

To assess the functional group of the Cotton fabric and PANI-deposited Fabric, FTIR-ATR was performed on the samples. FTIR-ATR spectras (Fig. 5) show the chemical structure of Plain Cotton fabric and PANI-deposited Cotton fabric at varried dopant concentrations (1, 2, 3 M).

The plain Cotton fabric displayed the board absorption peak at 3268–3332 cm⁻¹ region, assigned to the O-H stretching band of Cellulose. Consequently, there were several regions, for example, vibration at 1111, 1160 cm⁻¹ for C-O-C stretching, 2900 cm⁻¹ subjected to C-H stretching band, 2900 cm⁻¹ for C-H stretching band, and 1638 cm⁻¹ assigned for H-O-H bending absorbed water molecules.

Upon PANI deposition, the peak at the 3268–3332 cm⁻¹ region disappeared. Alongside, distinctive quinoid and benzenoid peaks are noticed at 1551 and 1474 cm⁻¹, respectively. Peaks for secondary amines from PANI formation are also located at 1294 cm⁻¹. Additional regions and distinctive peaks are also depicted in Table 1.

The conductive nature of the Cotton fabric is largely affected by the impregnation of PANI. With the PANI deposition, the surface becomes conductive. The resistivity measurement of the PANI-coated surface can justify this phenomenon.

Primarily, it is observed that the conductivity is significantly affected by the pretreatment process with NaOH. The alkaline process enhances the roundness of the surrounding fiber strand at the peripheral regions. As a result of penetration of the alkaline solution, the whole fiber strand is swollen, and the inner spiral formation of fiber got a more rounded shape and space [31] (Fig. 5a). As a result, the absorbency of the cellulosic fiber increased as well. This swollen structure housed a comparatively large number of PANI particle inside than non-treated ones, reducing the resistivity significantly.

The presence of conjugated lone pair in the PANI backbone does not make it conductive unless a charge carrier is introduced. Doping enables the electrons to flow due to the generation of conduction bands and making PANI conductive. Acid (HCl) doping protonates the imine nitrogen atoms without exchanging the electrons [32]. With the increase in dopant concentration, more protonation occurred in the nitrogen atom resulting in more conductivity of PANI-deposited fabric. It is observed that the resistivity with the lowering with the increase in dopant concentration (Fig. 6b). Significant improvement in resistivity was observed (15 folds) as the successful deposition conductive PANI.

Fig. 7a illustrates the repeatability of the resistivity value upon the continuous measurement from different parts of the coated fabric (3 M HCl). And from it, it can be presumed that the coating is well performed on the surface by creating a continuous, homogenous layer of PANI. From Figs. 7b and 7c, it can the flexibility of the treated fabric is retained in its original form.

The thermal stability of the PANI-incorporated Cotton fabric was analyzed using TGA. From the curve (as shown in Fig. 8), a small initial weight loss (3%–7%) was observed at the temperature between 40°C~50°C; this could be attributed to the presence of moisture or solvents in the samples. All the samples exhibited prominent endothermic peaks at a temperature over 300°C, indicating the major weight loss started from this point. This might be due to the breakage of the Cellulose backbone of the Cotton [33]. This phase continues from the temperature of 370°C~380°C. Here, the peak for PANI grafted fabric slightly shifted to a lower temperature than pristine Cotton, implying a reduction in thermal stability. This might be ascribed to the effect of acid on the Cellulose structure of Cotton. Notably, the PANI with a 3 M dopant concentration showed the minimum of weight loss compared with other concentrations (e.g., 1, 2 M). Thus, 3 M dopant concertation exhibited better thermal stability among the rest concentration by shifting the degradation point from 365°C to 390°C (3 M). Moreover, the residue of the thermal degradation of PANI (3 M HCl)-Cotton fabric is the highest. This might be due to the structural changes caused by much stronger acid and larger surface area for oxidation [34].

The promising electrical conductivity and thermal stability of the PANI-coated fabric hold considerable potential to be used as a flexible thermo-regulated device. It is notable that upon providing a current supply to conductive substances, heat generation occurs upon the colloid of electrons and photons. This phenomenon is practiced via joule heating. The joule heating behavior of the treated Cotton fabric (3 M HCl, 3.5 cm² × 1 cm²) was evaluated using a DC power supply operating at 1–15 V. The heat signature and surface distribution were examined using an inferred camera (FLIR E4). A progressive temperature rise is monitored with a gradual increase in the voltage depicted in Fig. 9. Consequently, upon the immediate release of the input voltage, the heat quickly declines to the initial ambient temperature. The surface temperature of the fabric elevated rapidly from ambient temperature to 30°C when a 5 V voltage was applied. Temperature raised from 30°C to 35°C within 15 s with the increase in voltage from 5 to 10 V. Within the next time span from 15–30 s, the temperature rose rapidly; at 15 V, the flexible thermos-electrical composite fabric provided elevated temperature that can exceed human skin temperature (38.2°C) and eventually reached a steady state of condition.