Influence of Structure and Composition of Woven Fabrics on the Conductivity of Flexography Printed Electronics.

Ana María Rodes-Carbonell,Josué Ferri,Eva Bou-Belda,Eduardo Garcia-Breijo,Ignacio Montava

doi:10.3390/polym13183165

Ana María Rodes-Carbonell, Josué Ferri + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13183165

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Abstract

The work is framed within Printed Electronics, an emerging technology for the manufacture of electronic products. Among the different printing methods, the roll-to-roll flexography technique is used because it allows continuous manufacturing and high productivity at low cost. Nevertheless, the incorporation of the flexography printing technique in the textile field is still very recent due to technical barriers such as the porosity of the surface, the durability and the ability to withstand washing. By using the flexography printing technique and conductive inks, different printings were performed onto woven fabrics. Specifically, the study is focused on investigating the influence of the structure of the woven fabric with different weave construction, interlacing coefficient, yarn number and fabric density on the conductivity of the printing. In the same way, the influence of the weft composition was studied by a comparison of different materials (cotton, polyester, and wool). Optical, SEM, color fastness to wash, color measurement using reflection spectrophotometer and multi-meter analyses concluded that woven fabrics have a lower conductivity due to the ink expansion through the inner part of the textile. Regarding weft composition, cotton performs worse due to the moisture absorption capacity of cellulosic fiber. A solution for improving conductivity on printed electronic textiles would be pre-treatment of the surface substrates by applying different chemical compounds that increase the adhesion of the ink, avoiding its absorption.

Highlights

Printed electronics (PE) refers to the technology that allows electronic device manufacturing through a printing process
It was proved that a direct relationship exists between the electrical performance of a flexographic printed textile with the structure of the woven as well as with the material composition of the weft
After performing controlled flexographic printing processes onto woven fabrics by using a silver electrical ink, physical and electrical analysis led to the following conclusions

Summary

Introduction

Printed electronics (PE) refers to the technology that allows electronic device manufacturing through a printing process. PE is one of the fastest growing technologies in the world as it provides different printing techniques for manufacturing low-cost and large-area flexible electronic devices [1]. Flexible electronics technology has attracted considerable attention since it can be applied to wearable devices including flexible displays, flexible batteries and flexible sensors [2,3] in different areas such as aerospace and automotive, biomedical, robotics, and health applications [4]. Wearable electronic textiles (e-textiles) are of great significance since they provide better comfortability, durability and lighter weight as well as maintaining desirable electrical properties [5]. The PE printing technique choice must be done according to the electronic application (e.g., small, thin, lightweight, flexible, and disposable, etc.), the manufacturing cost and volume. The main materials (inks/pastes and substrates) must meet certain requirements, depending on the printing technology selected and the final application

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