Graphene’s infusion in textiles is the future of wearable electronic clothing
Scientists have successfully printed washable and stretchable electronic circuits into fabric, paving the way for smart textiles and wearable electronics.
The circuits were made with cheap, safe and environmentally friendly inks, and printed using conventional inkjet printing techniques.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge in the UK showed 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.
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 …read more
