Researchers have successfully incorporated washable, stretchable and breathable electronic circuits into fabric, opening up new possibilities for smart textiles and wearable electronics. The circuits were made with cheap, safe and environmentally friendly inks, and printed using conventional inkjet printing techniques.
Turning textile fibres into functional electronic components can open to an entirely new set of applications from healthcare and wellbeing to the Internet of Things.
Felice Torrisi
The researchers, from the University of Cambridge, working with colleagues in Italy and China, have demonstrated how graphene – a two-dimensional form of carbon – can be directly printed onto fabric to produce integrated electronic circuits which are comfortable to wear and can survive up to 20 cycles in a typical washing machine.
The new textile electronic devices are based on low-cost, sustainable and scalable inkjet printing of inks based on graphene and other two-dimensional materials, and are produced by standard processing techniques. The results are published in the journal Nature Communications.
Based on earlier work on the formulation of graphene inks for printed electronics, the team designed low-boiling point inks, which were directly printed onto polyester fabric. Additionally, they found that modifying the roughness of the fabric improved the performance of the printed devices. The versatility of this process allowed the researchers to design not only single transistors but all-printed integrated electronic circuits combining active and passive components.
Most wearable electronic devices that are currently available rely on rigid electronic components mounted on plastic, rubber or textiles. These offer limited compatibility with the skin in many circumstances, are damaged when washed and are uncomfortable to wear because they are not breathable.
“Other inks for printed electronics normally require toxic solvents and are not suitable to be worn, whereas our inks are both cheap, safe and environmentally-friendly, and can be combined to create electronic circuits by simply printing different two-dimensional materials on the fabric,” said Dr Felice Torrisi of the Cambridge Graphene Centre, the paper’s senior author.
“Digital textile printing has been around for decades to print simple colourants on textiles, but our result demonstrates for the first time that such technology can also be used to print the entire electronic integrated circuits on textiles,” said co-author Professor Roman Sordan of Politecnico di Milano. “Although we demonstrated very simple integrated circuits, our process is scalable and there are no fundamental obstacles to the technological development of wearable electronic devices both in terms of their complexity and performance.“
“The printed components are flexible, washable and require low power, essential requirements for applications in wearable electronics,” said PhD student Tian Carey, the paper’s first author.
The work opens up a number of commercial opportunities for two-dimensional material inks, ranging from personal health and well-being technology, to wearable energy harvesting and storage, military garments, wearable computing and fashion.
“Turning textile fibres into functional electronic components can open to an entirely new set of applications from healthcare and wellbeing to the Internet of Things,” said Torrisi. “Thanks to nanotechnology, in the future our clothes could incorporate these textile-based electronics, such as displays or sensors and become interactive.”
Learn more: Fully integrated circuits printed directly onto fabric
The Latest on: Textile electronic devices
[google_news title=”” keyword=”textile electronic devices” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]- Exploring Technology’s Influence on Dehumidifiers Across Industrieson May 17, 2024 at 5:22 am
In the realm of modern innovation, dehumidifiers may not immediately come to mind as a groundbreaking technology. However, these devices, designed to remove excess moisture from the air, have ...
- Global Weft Feeder Market Set to Reach US$ 1,173.4 Million by 2033 with a Steady 5.8% CAGRon May 16, 2024 at 7:19 am
In 2023, the Weft Feeder market is expected to be worth US$ 670.3 million. The market is expected to reach US$ 1,173.4 million by 2033, expanding at a 5.8% CAGR throughout the forecast period. Weft ...
- Waterford knitting and crochet enthusiasts spearhead futuristic electronic textileson May 13, 2024 at 5:00 pm
knitting and crochet enthusiasts in Waterford have merged their passion for crafts with futuristic technology such as circuits and other wearable devices in a groundbreaking project showcasing the ...
- Nanoprinting turns textiles into multipurpose health monitoring deviceson April 29, 2024 at 5:00 pm
(Nanowerk Spotlight) In the world of wearable technology, the ultimate goal has been to seamlessly integrate electronic ... of wearable devices. By enabling the precise integration of functional ...
- Extracting Pure Gold From Electrical Trash Just Got Easieron April 23, 2024 at 7:18 am
Using textiles, researchers from the Korea Institute ... Electronic waste, often referred to as e-waste, consists of discarded electronic devices and components. This can include old electrical ...
- Integrating Electronics into Textiles: The Revolution of Chipless, Flexible Fiberson April 5, 2024 at 7:58 am
Image Credit: Oleksandr Berezko/Shutterstock.com Textile electronic systems are engineered ... from physiological monitoring to powering smart-home devices. However, incorporating such electronics ...
- Design and Technology - AQAon March 4, 2024 at 6:22 am
Systems approach to designing - AQA The systems approach to designing with programmable electronic devices is vital in ... to reduce the use of plastics. Textile-based materials - AQA Textiles ...
- Textiles and Clothing Newson October 25, 2023 at 5:00 pm
17, 2024 — A new fabric-based touch sensor used machine learning to control mobile apps, video games and other devices while integrated ... Developed for Smart Textiles Dec. 11, 2023 — A ...
- Smart Textiles and Smart Clothing – The New Black for the Internet of Thingson September 27, 2021 at 10:41 am
Now, technology is becoming part of the textile itself. The future of your shirts, socks and gloves will be electronic. In years to come, wearable electronics will look nothing like even your smallest ...
- Design and Technology - Eduqason July 25, 2020 at 9:11 pm
Electronic systems - Eduqas The systems approach to designing with programmable electronic devices is vital in understanding ... and components being used. Textiles: Sources and properties ...
via Google News and Bing News