The Textile is the Substrate: Challenges of Direct-on-Fabric Wearables

We present printing and transfer techniques to realize electronic circuits on clothing where the fabric serves as the substrate for a textile-based printed circuit board. Challenges are considered including patterning on the weave of the fabric, adhesion issues of different inks to fabric substrates...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in2023 IEEE International Flexible Electronics Technology Conference (IFETC) pp. 1 - 3
Main Author Gray, Bonnie L.
Format Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published IEEE 13.08.2023
Subjects
conductive ink
e-textiles
Fabrics
Ink
Integrated circuit interconnections
Metals
polymer nanocomposites
Printed circuits
Printing
screen-printing
smart fabrics
textile substrate
wearable biosensors
Wearable computers
wearable electronics
wearable microfluidics
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Summary:We present printing and transfer techniques to realize electronic circuits on clothing where the fabric serves as the substrate for a textile-based printed circuit board. Challenges are considered including patterning on the weave of the fabric, adhesion issues of different inks to fabric substrates (synthetic, natural; stretchable, flexible), and pattern resolution limits. The challenges are considered for multiple patterning techniques involving commercially available and in-house produced conductive inks, as well as transfer processes to fabric of metal interconnect patterns. The research is placed into the context of other e-textile technologies including conductive threads and fiber weaves.
DOI:10.1109/IFETC57334.2023.10254902