Abstract
The design of flexible sensors which can be incorporated in textile structures is of decisive importance for the future development of wearables. In addition to their technical functionality, the materials chosen to construct the sensor should be nontoxic, affordable, and compatible with future recycling. Conductive fibres were produced by incorporation of carbon black into regenerated cellulose fibres. By incorporation of 23 wt.% and 27 wt.% carbon black, the surface resistance of the fibres reduced from 1.3 × 1010 Ω·cm for standard viscose fibres to 2.7 × 103 and 475 Ω·cm, respectively. Fibre tenacity reduced to 30–50% of a standard viscose; however, it was sufficient to allow processing of the material in standard textile operations. A fibre blend of the conductive viscose fibres with polyester fibres was used to produce a needle-punched nonwoven material with piezo-electric properties, which was used as a pressure sensor in the very low pressure range of 400–1000 Pa. The durability of the sensor was demonstrated in repetitive load/relaxation cycles. As a regenerated cellulose fibre, the carbon-black-incorporated cellulose fibre is compatible with standard textile processing operations and, thus, will be of high interest as a functional element in future wearables.
Highlights
The Scientific and Technology Options Assessment Panel of the European Parliament (STOA)identified wearables as one of the 10 technologies which will change our lives with very promising market prospects for wearables, forecasted to increase to USD 150 billion by 2026 [1]
The carbon black (CB) was added to the spinning dope in the form of a CB dispersion, which was stabilised by addition of an anionic or nonionic dispersant
Before fibre spinning, any larger aggregates of CB were removed by filtration
Summary
The Scientific and Technology Options Assessment Panel of the European Parliament (STOA). Two conductive lines, woven into a fabric or wrapped in ply structure and separated by an elastic material, have been proposed as thread-like capacitive pressure sensors [14,15,16]. In another approach, the piezo-resistive properties of compressible structures were used to build flexible textile-based pressure sensors [17,18]. The conductive viscose fibres were processed into fibre webs to obtain plane piezo-sensitive layers, which were characterised in static and cyclic load experiments for their functionality as pressure sensors
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