A Novel Elastic Conductive Yarn for Smart Textile Applications

Abstract

Conductive yarns are crucial for electrical connections in electronic textiles. Challenges in conductive and elastic properties of conductive yarns, their durability, and compatibility with existing manufacturing processes limit mass production and affordability of conductive yarn. This work investigates elastic, shell‐conductive, and noncorrosive electroconductive yarns for textile‐based wearable electronics. The existing textile manufacturing processes (plaiting, coiling, and twisting) are used to fabricate elastic conductive yarn (ECY) using different blend ratios of stainless steel conductive yarn and elastomeric yarn. The ECY samples are inspected for structural uniformity, conductive coverage, ability to be woven, thickness, and extensibility. The most promising ECY exhibits a breaking force of 10.87 N, a tenacity of 2.04 cN tex−1, and an elongation at break of 61.1%, suitable for integration into e‐textiles where elasticity is required. The ECY with a conductive coverage of 85.36% provides better electrical connection points, while a thickness of 0.69 mm and linear density of 534 tex make it compatible with traditional textile manufacturing equipment. Findings demonstrate that the fabrication method and input parameters significantly impact the properties of ECY, including their elasticity and conductive coverage. Utilizing ECYs in fabric circuit boards can enable improved smart wearables for sustainable and modular integration of electronic components.