Silver nanowire coated knitted wool fabrics for wearable electronic applications

Abstract

This study demonstrates a first example of silver nanowire coated wool fibers for wearable electronic applications. Silver nanowires were synthesized according to the polyol method and then drop casted on knitted wool fabrics. Electronic properties of the knitted samples were investigated under cyclic bending conditions. Conductive fabrics were isolated with a dielectric material and used as capacitance to measure respiration and finger motions. In addition, the same capacitor was employed as a pressure sensor and touch-based sensor for lighting up an LED. This study demonstrates that silver nanowire coated knitted wool fabrics can be used in electronic textiles not only as a flexible electrode but also as a capacitor for different applications.

Progress in Flexible Electronic Textile for Heating Application: A Critical Review

“…Electrically conductive coatings for fibre-based e-textiles; ( B ). ( a ) Silver nanowire coated knitted wool fabrics for wearable electronic applications, SEM images of conductive knitting fabric after coating and washing with distilled water under ( b ) 60× and ( c ) 1000× magnifications [ 28 , 46 ].…”

Electronic Textiles

“…Besides these full-metal fibers and wires, there are many metal-coated polymer fiber yarns commercially available, and ongoing research aims to optimize conductivity and longevity. Gurarslan et al, e.g., prepared silver nanowires (Figure 2b) and drop-casted them onto knitted wool fabrics (Figure 2a) which were then used as pressure sensors and other capacitive sensors [44]. Coatings with silver nanoparticles can also be applied by electroless plating [45].…”

Electrical Properties of Textiles Treated with Graphene Oxide Suspension

“…The development of technologies for the production of new two-dimensional materials and their application for conductive textiles are important scientific and practical tasks [ 4 ]. In particular, there are many research articles on the use of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) [ 5 ], conducting polymers [ 6 ], metal nanofibers [ 7 ] and nanoparticles [ 8 ], graphene, and its derivatives [ 9 ]. They can be used for functionalization of both natural and artificial fibers.…”