As wearable electronics become more prevalent in everyday life, there is a growing desire to integrate circuits and antennae into clothing. One way that this integration may occur is through use of electronic textiles (e-textiles). However, changes in environmental and wear conditions may affect the conductive data communication performance of the e-textile, such as surface resistivity and antenna radiation characteristics. In this study, the effects of pilling, wrinkling, abrasion, and laundering of e-textiles were examined for resistivity performance. E-textile resistivity performance from both direct current (DC) and radiofrequency (RF) perspectives were measured following AATCC and ASTM standards. For DC performance, results indicate that pilling causes severe damage to e-textile resistivity, while laundering and wrinkling did not substantially affect e-textile resistivity performance. For RF performance in this study, an e-textile microstrip patch antenna was designed and data were collected under similar environmental and wear conditions. RF performance change corresponds with DC performance change. The findings of this paper highlight limitations of the evaluated e-textile performance, and provide new perspectives regarding improvements to e-textile fabrication for sustaining performance through environmental and wear operations.

Smart clothing represents less than 1% of the multibillion dollar wearables market. This lagging representation is due to many factors; one predominant challenge which includes performance reliability post-laundering/care. Due to smart clothing intimately contacting the human body, it naturally becomes soiled and requires laundering. However, insight into the impact of consumer detergents and other additives on e-textile conductive functionality post laundering has yet to be explored. The purpose of this research was to study laundering conditions, specifically the influence of select laundry detergents and additives, on surface resistivity of select e-textiles to provide initial insights into the impact of consumer-available laundering treatments to contribute to knowledge around laundering of e-textiles. Understanding initial impacts of laundering conditions, particularly detergents and other common laundry additives can inform future studies, laundering text methods of e-textiles, and care label development.

E-textile antennas have the potential to be the premier on-body wearable sensor. Embroidery techniques, which can be applied to produce e-textile antennas, assist in large production volumes and fast production speeds. This paper focuses on the effects of three commonly used embroidery parameters, namely stitch type, conductive thread location, and stabilizer, on the performance of embroidered dipole antennas in order to determine the ideal embroidery combination for optimal antenna performance. Fifty-four dipole antenna samples were fabricated and measured at the industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) frequency band of 2.45 GHz. The results of this study show that machine-embroidered antenna designs with satin stitches resonate at a lower frequency and exhibit a lower transmission gain compared with those made with contour stiches, and the conductive thread location in the bobbin location plus the use of a water-soluble stabilizer can help improve impedance matching.

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Introduction and RationaleWireless body area networks (WBANs) are a form of wearable technology that A.employs body-worn sensors to gather physiological data and B. utilizes wireless communication to transmit that data for analysis [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11].WBANs have amassed popularity in the past several years, particularly in sports and health/wellness applications. Physiological monitors have functioned in the medical industry for decades, but technological advancements have led to much smaller devices that are now self-manageable, affordable, and widely available. The most common example of these WBANs is the smartwatch, which may measure a variety of sensor-related functions such as heartrate, movements/steps, and sleep monitoring. With further advancements in WBAN technology, demand increases for even smaller devices that are fully integrated into soft-good products. Conductive embroidery has shown potential in achieving this end goal [3], and the technique is now driving research among engineers and fashion designers aiming to devise "smart" apparel (clothing) or other soft-good products.Conductive embroidery is the stitched application of finely drawn wire, metallic yarns, or threads spun from conductive polymers onto a textile/fabric substrate [4]. The technique transforms a traditional textile into a conductive textile and is of interest to researchers and manufacturers who work towards creating an effective, customizable, and low-profile WBAN. Interdisciplinary teams of experts in the fields of textiles, design, and electrical engineering are necessary to conduct this research, and methodology must be transparently shared amongst disciplines to make progress in 'smart garment' developments (also referred to as electronic textiles, e-textiles, smart textiles, smart clothing, or functional fabrics). At present, the research field is quite fractured, exhibiting a lack of collaboration and inadequate communication between industries. In investigating techniques for conductive embroidery, the authors discovered a lack of published details for proper replication of methods where many studies do not disclose the various material properties needed to properly replicate conductive embroidered designs. For example, fiber type, fabric weight, fabrication structure, and finishes applied to yarn or fabric, are all important specifications that must be considered alongside electrical conductivity, resistivity, and dielectric constant. All of these variables must be considered, detailed, and reported for replication and research advancement., indepth discussion of techniques, equipment, and manufacturing challenges are required for Crimson PublishersWings to the Research