Electrically conductive honeycomb structured graphene composites from natural protein fibre waste

Abstract A large amount of short and waste protein fibres, including silk and wool generated during fibre processing that is not spinnable, eventually ends up in the landfill. Here we are reporting on using these waste materials for fabrication of conductive composite. We prepared Nickel (Ni) doped textile-based conductive composites from silk, and wool waste fibres in powder forms and graphene oxide (GO), for the first time, by bulk synthesis method. The infrared spectroscopy revealed that the silk and wool formed composites with graphene oxide and Ni. The obtained Ni-doped graphene/protein fibres composites after carbonisation showed a honeycomb structure with high surface area and pore volume. The conductivity of the Ni-doped composites was higher than the undoped composites. Considering the surface area, pore volume and conductivity results, there is a huge potential for the fabricated material from biobased to use as an electrode material.