Max Scherf | Profactor GmbH: Can printed electronics on a t-shirt really survive the washing machine?
00:08:40 - 00:09:43
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Summary of the clip:
Can printed electronics on a t-shirt really survive the washing machine?
A critical factor for the commercial viability and practical adoption of smart textiles is their durability, specifically their ability to withstand repeated home laundering. To validate this, individual components of a smart belt—including the inkjet-printed electronic islands, embroidered conductive yarns, and carbon-based strain gauges—were subjected to rigorous washability testing.
The testing protocol was designed to simulate real-world, harsh conditions using a laboratory washing machine. The machine operated at an elevated temperature of 60° Celsius with a high-speed 1200 rounds per minute spin cycle. Each test run simulated 10 washing cycles, allowing for accelerated lifetime testing of the electronic components' resilience to heat, water, detergent, and mechanical stress.
After a total of 21 simulated washing cycles, the results were highly promising. There was no visible corrosion on the embroidered yarns and no significant change in their electrical resistance. While the printed electronic islands showed slight physical deformation due to the heat and tumbling forces, their electrical integrity was fully maintained, demonstrating the robustness of the encapsulated multi-layer design.
In this short video, you can learn:
* The methodology for testing the washability and reliability of smart textiles.
* The specific, harsh test parameters used, including 60°C temperature and 1200 rpm spin speed.
* The successful results, showing maintained electrical integrity and function after 21 wash cycles.
📋 **Clip Abstract** For smart textiles to be practical, they must be washable. This clip details the rigorous testing protocol used to validate the durability of inkjet-printed electronics on fabric, showing that the components maintained full electrical integrity after 21 aggressive wash cycles at 60°C.
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#SmartTextiles, #PrintedElectronics, #WashabilityTesting, #EncapsulatedElectronics, #WearableElectronics, #FlexibleElectronics
This is a highlight of the presentation:
Multi-Material Inkjet Printing for Smart Textile Applications
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00:06:04 - 00:07:31
How do you inkjet print high-resolution electronics onto a rough, porous fabric without the ink just soaking in?
How do you inkjet print high-resolution electronics onto a rough, porous fabric without the ink just soaking in?
The primary challenge of printing electronics on textiles is their inhomogeneous nature, specifically their high porosity and surface roughness. The size of an inkjet droplet is often in the same dimension as the fabric's pores and the gaps between fibers. This causes the ink to wick uncontrollably into the material, making it impossible to form the continuous, well-defined conductive traces required for a functional circuit.
The solution is a multi-layer, direct-to-garment printing approach that builds a stable foundation for the electronics. First, a polymer-based planarization layer is inkjet-printed directly onto the textile. This layer fills the pores and smooths over the rough fiber structure, creating a localized, flat, non-porous surface that is ideal for subsequent high-resolution printing.
On top of this foundation, the conductive circuit layer is printed, and standard ICs or SMD components are assembled. The entire stack is then sealed with a final encapsulation layer. This top layer provides crucial mechanical stability and protects the sensitive electronics from moisture and physical stress, ensuring the integrity and reliability of the final sensor system.
In this short video, you can learn:
* The fundamental challenges of printing functional electronics directly onto textiles.
* A multi-layer stack solution using printed planarization and encapsulation layers.
* Examples of fully integrated sensors like accelerometers and optical heart rate monitors on fabric.
📋 **Clip Abstract** Inkjet printing on textiles is challenging due to their rough and porous surfaces. This clip details a novel multi-layer stack approach that uses a printed planarization layer to create a smooth foundation for circuits, enabling the integration of complex sensors directly onto garments.
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#InkjetPrintedElectronics, #TextileElectronics, #PlanarizationLayer, #WearableSensors, #FlexibleElectronics, #AdditiveManufacturing
00:07:33 - 00:08:40
How can you build a smart garment with sensors touching the skin on the inside and electronics facing out for comfort?
How can you build a smart garment with sensors touching the skin on the inside and electronics facing out for comfort?
A key design challenge for functional smart textiles is the optimal placement of different electronic components. Some sensors, such as optical heart rate monitors, require direct and stable skin contact to function correctly, meaning they must be positioned on the inward-facing side of the garment. However, placing all electronics against the skin can reduce wearer comfort and expose components to sweat and abrasion.
To solve this, a sophisticated double-sided process was developed that intelligently combines embroidery with inkjet printing. Conductive threads are first embroidered through the fabric. This established technique is used to create robust electrical vias and interconnects that bridge the two sides of the textile, acting as a flexible, integrated wiring harness.
Inkjet printing is then used to create the functional "electronic islands" on both the inward and outward-facing surfaces, connecting them via the embroidered points. This allows skin-contact sensors to be precisely placed on the inside for accurate measurements, while other components like power modules, microcontrollers, and antennas are placed on the outside. This hybrid approach maximizes both sensor functionality and overall wearer comfort.
In this short video, you can learn:
* The design challenge of placing sensors on both the inside and outside of a garment.
* A hybrid manufacturing process combining embroidery for through-vias and inkjet printing for electronic islands.
* How this technique enables complex wearables with both skin-contact sensors and external components.
📋 **Clip Abstract** Creating complex wearables requires placing components on both sides of the fabric. This clip explains a sophisticated hybrid manufacturing process that uses embroidered conductive threads as vertical interconnects, enabling inkjet-printed electronic islands on both the inward and outward-facing surfaces of a garment.
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#HybridTextileElectronics, #EmbroideredVias, #InkjetPrintedElectronics, #SmartGarmentDesign, #WearableElectronics, #FunctionalTextiles