Designing and investigation of braided-cum-woven structure for wearable heating textile

Abstract

The present research makes use of a braiding-cum-weaving technique for the fabrication and investigation of electricity-induced heating fabrics. Braided conductive yarns (BCYs) were produced using a Maypole braiding machine by introducing conductive copper filament as the core and polyester multifilament yarn as the sheath. A different number of polyester yarns, 6-, 10-and 16-end, were used to cover the copper core. Electrically heating fabrics (e-HFs) were fabricated by interweaving the BCYs through pick insertion in a plain-woven construction at 4-, 8-and 12-pick spacing. Various electro-mechanical tests were carried out on the BCYs and e-HFs. The mechanical performance of 16-end BCY was the most superior while 6-end BCY exhibited the poorest performance amongst the three BCY-types. The temperature profiles obtained via thermal mapping elucidate the difference in the heat-barrier effect of each of the BCYs. It also shows the presence of overlapping concentric (cylindrical) isotherms running along the axes of the BCYs. These isotherms have shown to significantly affect the temperature uniformity on the e-HF surface. Heating response under different variables-pick-spacing, time, voltage and input power, were evaluated, and direct correlations were found. A temperature of about 89.8 °C was attained at 5 V after 40 min of heating. For an input power of 3, 5 and 7 W, a maximum temperature of 40.5, 48.8 and 55.3 °C was measured for different e-HFs. Wash and sweat durability tests were also carried out to corroborate the utility of the e-HFs for day-today usage. These tests proved to have a minimal detrimental effect on the heating performance of the e-HFs establishing a good utilitarian quotient of such material for the purpose of wearable electronics and essentially, as active heating garments.

Integration of Conductive Materials with Textile Structures, an Overview

“…The resultant braided yarn was used to fabricate an e-heating fabric via interweaving. The electro-mechanical tests on the braided conductive yarn and e-heating fabric revealed superior tensile performance and heat trapping with increasing the number of ends [94]. The braided conductive yarn and temperature variation around its immediate environment is shown in Figure 20.…”

“…Smart materials are incorporated into the textile structure by different technologies; embroidering [90], knitting [91], weaving [92], spinning [93], braiding [94], coating [66], printing [84], plating [95] and chemicals that provide specific features such as controlled hydrophobic behavior [4]. The techniques of integrating a conductive material in/onto a textile structure can be categorized based on the form of the starting conductive material they use.…”

Electrothermal and Mechanical Characterization of Stainless Steel and Silver-Coated Cabled Yarns for Heating Application

“…The development of wearable electronic textile technology is exponentially increasing among a wide range of wearable electronic products like electrical heating pads, temperature sensors, pressure sensors, EMI shielding materials, etc. − The textile-based wearable heater has attracted attention in heat therapy applications for relieving joint and muscle pain. In the elderly, blood vessel constriction may occur, resulting in localized pain that necessitates heat application.…”

Graphene‐Based Textiles for Thermal Management and Flame Retardancy

“…Since most traditional textile materials are insulators, tremendous efforts have been exerted on rendering them with electrical conductivity and electrothermal property through the incorporation of electrically conductive networks. The metal‐based materials, such as copper, [ 83 ] silver, [ 84 ] stainless steel, [ 85 ] and ferrous and nickel‐based alloys [ 86 ] that are commonly integrated in conductive textiles, suffer from drawbacks including heavy weight, rigidity, and rising price caused by limited resources. In comparison, graphene, with superior thermal conductivity as aforementioned and electron mobility as high as 2.5 × 10 5 cm 2 V –1 s –1 , [ 87 ] shows great potential in the fabrication of stable, lightweight, and flexible fabric heaters with rapid thermal response, efficient heating, and uniform temperature distribution.…”