Design and measurement of cost-balanced and electronic-efficient embroidered textile electrodes

Abstract

In this work, different textile electrodes are assessed and a novel measurement system for their characterization is presented. Those electrodes are made of a paraffin-coated conductive yarn embroidered into a textile substrate following two distinct embroidering techniques with up to six different geometry characteristics for each one. To evaluate the sensor behaviour, the impedance has been measured by means of an LCR meter at 50 kHz at atmospheric conditions (25 °C and about 40% relative humidity). The results obtained were as follows. First, the application of a paraffin wax coating to the conductive yarn enhances better test results and eases the production process. Second, the proposed measurement system provides much more consistent results in comparison with other standard techniques already in use. Finally, higher densities of conductive yarn obtained lower resistance values, and so impedance, rather than other configurations.