Scientists have developed technologies that can print electronic circuits onto textiles

Scientists from the UK, Italy and China have been able to incorporate washable, stretchable and breathable electronic circuits into textiles, opening up new possibilities for smart textiles and wearable electronics. The electronic circuit is made of inexpensive, safe and environmentally friendly ink and printed using traditional inkjet printing technology.

Researchers from the University of Cambridge, together with colleagues from Italy and China, showed how to print graphene directly onto fabrics to produce integrated electronic circuits. The fabric can withstand up to 20 washes in a typical washing machine.

The new textile electronics are based on graphene and other low-cost, sustainable and scalable printing inks, produced through standard processing techniques, and the results are published in the journal Nature Communications.

Based on the early work of printed electronic graphene formulations, the team designed low-boiling inks that were printed directly onto polyester fibers. The versatility of this process allows researchers to design not only individual transistors, but also the combination of active and passive components to print integrated electronic circuits.

Most of the wearable electronic devices currently available rely on rigid electronic components mounted on plastics, rubber or textiles that provide limited contact with the skin, are susceptible to damage during washing, and are uncomfortable due to lack of air permeability.

“Inks for other printed electronics often require toxic solvents that are not suitable for wearing, and our inks are inexpensive, safe, environmentally friendly, and can be combined to form electronic circuits by simply printing different materials on the fabric.” The senior author of the paper, Dr. FeliceTorrisi of the Cambridge Graphene Center, said. “Converting textile fibers into functional electronic components can lay the foundation for new applications such as healthcare, health and the Internet of Things.”

Professor Roman Sordan, one of the co-authors of the paper, said: "Digital textile printing has been around for decades, and simple colorants can be printed on textiles, but our results prove for the first time that this technology can also be used in textiles. Printed the entire electronic integrated circuit. Although we are demonstrating a very simple integrated circuit, our process is scalable, and there are no fundamental obstacles to the development of technology for wearable electronic devices in terms of complexity and performance."

The Cambridge Graphene Center and the Politecnico University team also participated in the Graphene Flagship Program, a European-funded pan-European project dedicated to the application of graphene and GRM technology to the commercial sector.