Stretchable Ultrasheer Fabrics as Semitransparent Electrodes for Wearable Light-Emitting e-Textiles with Changeable Display Patterns

Despite the development throughout human history of a wealth of textile materials and structures, the porous structures and non-planar surfaces of textiles are often viewed as problematic for the fabrication of wearable e-textiles and smart clothing. Here, we demonstrate a new textile-centric design paradigm in which we use the textile structure as an integral part of wearable device design. We coat the open framework structure of an ultrasheer knitted textile with a conformal gold film using solution-based metallization to form gold-coated ultrasheer electrodes that are highly conductive (3.6 ± 0.9 Ω/sq) and retain conductivity to 200% strain with R/R0 \u3c 2. The ultrasheer electrodes produce wearable, highly stretchable light-emitting e-textiles that function to 200% strain. Stencil printing a wax resist provides patterned electrodes for patterned light emission; furthermore, incorporating soft-contact lamination produces light-emitting textiles that exhibit, for the first time, readily changeable patterns of illumination

Jacquard-woven photonic bandgap fiber displays

We present an overview of photonic textile displays woven on a Jacquard loom, using newly discovered polymer photonic bandgap fibers that have the ability to change color and appearance when illuminated with ambient or transmitted light. The photonic fiber can be thin (smaller than 300 microns in diameter) and highly flexible, which makes it possible to weave in the weft on a computerized Jacquard loom and develop intricate double weave structures together with a secondary weft yarn. We demonstrate how photonic crystal fibers enable a variety of color and structural patterns on the textile, and how dynamic imagery can be created by balancing the ambient and emitted radiation. Finally, a possible application in security ware for low visibility conditions is described as an example

User-interactive wirelessly-communicating “smart” textiles made from multimaterial fibers

En raison de la nature intime des interactions homme-textiles (essentiellement, nous sommes entourés par les textiles 24/7 - soit sous la forme de vêtements que nous portons ou comme rembourrage dans nos voitures, maisons, bureaux, etc.), les textiles intelligents sont devenus des plates-formes de plus en plus attrayantes pour les réseaux de capteurs innovants biomédicaux, transducteurs, et des microprocesseurs dédiés à la surveillance continue de la santé. En même temps, l'approche commune dans le domaine des textiles intelligents consiste en l'adaptation de la microélectronique planaire classique à une sorte de substrat souple. Cela se traduit souvent par de mauvaises propriétés mécaniques et donc des compromis au niveau du confort et de l'acceptation des usagers, qui à leur tour peuvent probablement expliquer pourquoi ces solutions émergent rarement du laboratoire et, à l'exception de certains cas très spécifiques, ne soit pas utilisés dans la vie de tous les jours. Par ailleurs, nous assistons présentement à un changement de paradigme au niveau de l'informatique autonome classique vers le concept de calculs distribués (ou informatique en nuage). Dans ce cas, la puissance de calcul du nœud individuel ou d'un dispositif de textile intelligent est moins importante que la capacité de transmettre des données à l'Internet. Dans ce travail, je propose une nouvelle approche basée sur l'intégration de polymère, verre et métal dans des structures de fibres miniaturisées afin de réaliser des dispositifs de textiles intelligents de prochaine génération avec des fonctionnalités de niveau supérieur (comme la communication sans fil, la reconnaissance tactile, les interconnexions électriques) tout en ayant une forme minimalement envahissante. Tout d'abord, j'étudie différents modèles d'antennes compatibles avec la géométrie des fibres et des techniques de fabrication. Ensuite, je démontre expérimentalement que ces antennes en fibres multi-matériaux peuvent être intégrées dans les textiles lors d’un processus standard de fabrication de textiles. Les tests effectués sur ces textiles ont montré que, pour les scénarios «sur-corps et hors-corps», les propriétés émissives en termes de perte de retour (S11), le patron (diagramme) de radiation, l'efficacité (gain), et le taux d'erreur binaire (TEB) sont directement comparables à des solutions classiques rigides. Ces antennes sont adéquates pour les communications à courte portée des applications de communications sans fil ayant un débit de données de Mo/s (méga-octets par seconde) (via protocoles Bluetooth et IEEE 802.15.4 à la fréquence de 2,4 GHz). Des simulations numériques de taux d'absorption spécifique démontrent également le plein respect des règles de sécurité imposées par Industrie Canada pour les réseaux sans fil à proximité du corps humain. Puisque les matériaux composites de fibres métal-verre-polymère sont fabriqués en utilisant des fibres de silice creuses de diamètre submillimétrique et la technique de dépôt d'argent à l'état liquide, les éléments conducteurs sont protégés de l'environnement et ceci préserve aussi les propriétés mécaniques et esthétiques des vêtements. Cet aspect est confirmé par des essais correspondant aux normes de l'industrie du textile, l'étirement standard et des essais de flexion. De plus, appliquer des revêtements superhydrophobes (WCA = 152º, SA = 6º) permet une communication sans fil sans interruption de ces textiles sous l'application directe de l'eau, même après plusieurs cycles de lavage. Enfin, le prototype de textile intelligent fabriqué interagit avec l'utilisateur à travers un détecteur tactile et transmet les données tactiles à travers le protocole Bluetooth à un smartphone. Cette démonstration valide l’approche des fibres multi-matériaux pour une variété d'applications.As we are surrounded by textiles 24/7, either in the form of garments that we wear or as upholstery in our cars, homes, offices, etc., textiles are especially attractive platforms for arrays of innovative biomedical sensors, transducers, and microprocessors dedicated, among other applications, to continuous health monitoring. In the same time, the common approach in the field of smart textiles consists in adaptation of conventional planar microelectronics to some kind of flexible substrate, which often results in poor mechanical properties and thus compromises wearing comfort and complicates garment care, which results in low user acceptance. This explains why such solutions rarely emerge from the lab and, with the exception of some very specific cases, cannot be seen in the everyday life. Furthermore, we are currently witnessing a global shift from classical standalone computing to the concept of distributed computation (e.g. so-called thin clients and cloud storage). In this context, the computation power of the individual node or smart textile device in this case, becomes progressively less important than the ability to relay data to the Internet. In this work, I propose a novel approach based on the idea of integration of polymer, glass and metal into miniaturized fiber structures in order to achieve next-generation smart textile devices with higher-level functionalities, such as wireless communication, touch recognition, electrical interconnects, with minimally-invasive attributes. First, I investigate different possible fiber-shaped antenna designs and fabrication techniques. Next, I experimentally demonstrate that such multi-material fiber antennas can be integrated into textiles during standard textile manufacturing process. Tests conducted on these textiles have shown that, for on-body and off-body scenarios, the emissive properties in terms of return loss (S11), radiation pattern, efficiency (gain), and bit-error rate (BER) are directly comparable to classic ‘rigid’ solutions and adequately address short-range wireless communications applications at Mbps data-rates (via Bluetooth and IEEE 802.15.4 protocols at 2.4 GHz frequency). Numerical simulations of the specific absorption rate (SAR) also demonstrate full compliance with safety regulations imposed by Industry Canada for wireless body area network devices. Since metal-glass-polymer fiber composites were fabricated using sub-millimetre hollow-core silica fibers and liquid state silver deposition technique, the conductor elements are shielded against the environment and preserve the mechanical and cosmetic properties of the garments. This is confirmed by the textile industry standard stretching and bending tests. Additionally, applied superhydrophobic coatings (WCA=152º, SA=6º) allow uninterrupted wireless communication of the textiles under direct water application even after multiple washing cycles. Finally, I fabricated a user-interactive and wireless-communicating smart textile prototype, that interacts with the user through capacitive touch-sensing and relays the touch data through Bluetooth protocol to a smartphone. This demonstration validates that the proposed approach based on multi-material fibers is suitable for applications to sensor fabrics and bio-sensing textiles connected in real time to mobile communications infrastructures, suitable for a variety of health and life science applications

Truly form-factor–free industrially scalable system integration for electronic textile architectures with multifunctional fiber devices

Funding Information: This work was supported by the European Commission (H2020, 1D-NEON, grant agreement ID: 685758). J.M.K. and L.G.O. acknowledge the support from the U.K. Research and Innovation (EPSRC, EP/P027628/1). We thank Y. Bernstein and J. Faulkner for helping with grammar check. Funding Information: Acknowledgments Funding:ThisworkwassupportedbytheEuropeanCommission(H2020,1D-NEON,grant agreementID:685758).J.M.K.andL.G.O.acknowledgethesupportfromtheU.K.Researchand Innovation(EPSRC,EP/P027628/1).W ethankY .BernsteinandJ.Faulknerforhelpingwith grammarcheck.Authorcontributions:S.L.andJ.M.K.conceivedtheproject.S.L.,L.G.O.,P .B., R.Martins,andJ.M.K.supervisedtheproject.S.L.andH.L.developedF-PD.S.L.,Y .-W .L., G.-H.A., D.-W .S., J.I.S.,andS.C.developedF-SC.C.L.F ., A.S.,R.I.,P .B., andR.Martinsdevelopedfiber transistor.S.L.,H.L.,andS.C.developedF-LED.ThefiberdeviceswereevaluatedbyS.L.,H.W .C., D.-W .S., H.L.,S.J.,S.D.H.,S.Y .B., S.Z.,W .H.-C., Y .-H.S., X.-B.F ., T .H.L., J.-W .J., andY .K. The developmentofweavingprocesswasconductedbyS.L.,H.W .C., F .M.M., P .J., andV .G.C. Thelaser interconnectionwasdevelopedbyS.L.,H.W .C., K.U.,M.E.,andM.S.Thetextiledemonstrations werecharacterizedbyS.L.,H.W .C., D.-W .S., J.Y ., S.S.,U.E.,S.N.,A.C.,A.M.,R.Momentè,J.G.,N.D., S.M.,C.-H.K.,M.L.,A.N.,D.J.,M.C.,andY .C. ThismanuscriptwaswrittenbyS.L.andJ.M.K.and reviewed by H.W .C., D.-W .S., M.C.,L.G.O., P .B., E.F ., and G.A.J.A. All authors discussed the results andcommentedonthemanuscript.Competinginterests:Theauthorsdeclarethattheyhave nocompetinginterests.Dataandmaterialsavailability:Alldataneededtoevaluatethe conclusionsinthepaperarepresentinthepaperand/ortheSupplementaryMaterials. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2023 The Authors, some rights reserved.An integrated textile electronic system is reported here, enabling a truly free form factor system via textile manufacturing integration of fiber-based electronic components. Intelligent and smart systems require freedom of form factor, unrestricted design, and unlimited scale. Initial attempts to develop conductive fibers and textile electronics failed to achieve reliable integration and performance required for industrial-scale manufacturing of technical textiles by standard weaving technologies. Here, we present a textile electronic system with functional one-dimensional devices, including fiber photodetectors (as an input device), fiber supercapacitors (as an energy storage device), fiber field-effect transistors (as an electronic driving device), and fiber quantum dot light-emitting diodes (as an output device). As a proof of concept applicable to smart homes, a textile electronic system composed of multiple functional fiber components is demonstrated, enabling luminance modulation and letter indication depending on sunlight intensity.publishersversionpublishe

Light-emitting textiles: Device architectures, working principles, and applications

E-textiles represent an emerging technology aiming toward the development of fabric with augmented functionalities, enabling the integration of displays, sensors, and other electronic components into textiles. Healthcare, protective clothing, fashion, and sports are a few examples application areas of e-textiles. Light-emitting textiles can have different applications: Sensing, fashion, visual communication, light therapy, etc. Light emission can be integrated with textiles in different ways: Fabricating light-emitting fibers and planar light-emitting textiles or employing side-emitting polymer optical fibers (POFs) coupled with light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Different kinds of technology have been investigated: Alternating current electroluminescent devices (ACELs), inorganic and organic LEDs, and light-emitting electrochemical cells (LECs). The different device working principles and architectures are discussed in this review, highlighting the most relevant aspects and the possible approaches for their integration with textiles. Regarding POFs, the methodology to obtain side emissions and the critical aspects for their integration into textiles are discussed in this review. The main applications of light-emitting fabrics are illustrated, demonstrating that LEDs, alone or coupled with POFs, represent the most robust technology. On the other hand, OLEDs (Organic LEDs) are very promising for the future of light-emitting fabrics, but some issues still need to be addressed

Development of an Integrated, Programmable, Non-Emissive Textile Display Material

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Electronically active textiles

Electronically Active Textiles (e-textiles) are a type of textile material that has some form of electronic functionality. This can be achieved by attaching electronics onto the surface of the textile, incorporating electronic components as part of the fabrication of the textile itself, or by integrating electronics into the yarns or fibers that comprises the textile. The addition of electronic components can give textiles a wide range of new functions from lighting or heating to advanced sensing capabilities. As such, e-textiles have provided a platform for developing a range of new novel products in fields, such as healthcare, sports, protection, transport, and communications. The purpose of this volume is to report on the advances in the integration of electronics into textiles, and presents original research in the field of e-textiles as well as a comprehensive review of the evolution of e-Textiles. Topics include the fabrication and illumination of e-textiles and the use of e-textiles for temperature sensing

New Designs for Wearable Technologies: Stretchable e-Textiles and e-Skin

This dissertation comprises research efforts in addressing the challenges of integration of different materials with mechanical mismatches in stretchable e-textiles and e-skin, with a major focus on the design and fabrication of stretchable e-textiles. Chapter 2 describes the solution-based metallization of a knitted textile that conformally coats individual fibers with gold, leaving the void structure intact. The resulting gold-coated textile is highly conductive, with a sheet resistance of 1.07 ohm/sq in the course direction. The resistance decreases by 80% when the fabric is stretched to 15% strain and remains at this value to 160% strain. This outstanding combination of stretchability and conductivity is accompanied by durability to wearing, sweating, and washing. Low-cost screen printing of a wax resist is demonstrated to produce patterned gold textiles suitable for electrically connecting discrete devices in clothing. The fabrication of electroluminescent fabric by depositing layers of device materials onto the gold-coated textile is furthermore demonstrated, intimately merging device functionality with textiles for imperceptible wearable devices. Chapter 3 presents a new textile-centric design paradigm in which we use the textile structure as an integral part of wearable device design. Coating the open framework structure of an ultrasheer knitted textile with a conformal gold film using solution-based metallization forms gold-coated ultrasheer electrodes that are highly conductive (3.6 ± 0.9 ohm/sq) and retain conductivity to 200% strain with R/R0 \u3c 2. The ultrasheer electrodes produce wearable, highly stretchable light-emitting e-textiles that function to 200% strain. Stencil printing a wax resist provides patterned electrodes for patterned light emission; furthermore, incorporating soft-contact lamination produces light-emitting textiles that exhibit, for the first time, readily changeable patterns of illumination. Chapter 4 demonstrates the strategic use of a warp-knitted velour fabric in an “island-bridge” architectural strain-engineering design to prepare stretchable textile-based lithium ion battery (LIB) electrodes. The velour fabric consists of a warp-knitted framework and a cut pile. We integrate the LIB electrode into this fabric by solution-based metallization to create the warp-knitted framework current collector “bridges”, followed by selectively deposition of the brittle electroactive material CuS on the cut pile “islands”. As the textile electrode is stretched, the warp-knitted framework current collector elongates, while the electroactive cut pile fibers simply ride along at their anchor points on the framework, protecting the brittle CuS coating from strain and subsequent damage. The textile-based stretchable LIB electrode exhibited excellent electrical and electrochemical performance with a current collector sheet resistance of 0.85 ± 0.06 ohm/sq and a specific capacity of 400 mAh/g at 0.5 C for 300 charging-discharging cycles, as well as outstanding rate capability. The electrical performance and charge-discharge cycling stability of the electrode persisted even after 1000 repetitive stretching-releasing cycles, demonstrating the protective functionality of the textile-based island-bridge architectural strain-engineering design. Chapter 5 demonstrates the engineering of metal cracking patterns using the topography from acid-oxidized PDMS. Oxidizing the surface of PDMS with aqueous acid mixture created hierarchical topographies. Coating the surface of acid-oxidized PDMS with copper using electroless deposition produced stretchable conductors with a sheet resistance of ~1.2 ohm/sq. The cracking patterns of copper films with strain were tuned by simply adjusting the composition of acid mixture to change the topography of PDMS, which affects the resistance change of copper films with strain. The Cu films with an optimal cracking pattern on acid-treated PDMS remain conductive to 85% strain with R/R0 less than 20

Scalable colored sub-ambient radiative coolers based on a polymer-Tamm photonic structure

Daytime radiative coolers cool objects below the air temperature without any electricity input, while most of them are limited by a silvery or whitish appearance. Colored daytime radiative coolers (CDRCs) with diverse colors, scalable manufacture, and sub-ambient cooling have not been achieved. We introduce a polymer-Tamm photonic structure to enable a high infrared emittance and an engineered absorbed solar irradiance, governed by the quality factor (Q-factor). We theoretically determine the theoretical thresholds for sub-ambient cooling through yellow, magenta, and cyan CDRCs. We experimentally fabricate and observe a temperature drop of 2.6-8.8 degrees Celsius on average during daytime and 4.0-4.4degrees Celsius during nighttime. Furthermore, we demonstrate a scalable-manufactured magenta CDRC with a width of 60 cm and a length of 500 cm by a roll-to-roll deposition technique. This work provides guidelines for large-scale CDRCs and offers unprecedented opportunities for potential applications with energy-saving, aesthetic, and visual comfort demands

Commercial assessment of roll to roll manufacturing of electronic displays

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-81).The cost of manufacturing electronic displays currently limits the range of applications and markets into which it is currently economically feasible to adopt displays. Roll-to-roll manufacturing has been identified by the display industry as a new and fundamentally different manufacturing paradigm that has the potential to significantly reduce the manufacturing cost of a display relative to the conventional approaches used in the industry. This manufacturing cost reduction could have a profound impact on the display industry by not only transforming the display manufacturing infrastructure, but also by permitting electronic displays to penetrate new markets. The purpose of this thesis is to determine how roll-to-roll manufacturing technology could develop and to assess what impact the technology could have on the electronic display manufacturing industry. This work first identifies the material, patterning, and equipment technologies that need to come together in order for roll-to-roll manufacturing to be industrially feasible, and then determines how and if the technology will offer a cost reduction over conventional manufacturing techniques.(cont.) Next, the markets for displays are segmented and analyzed to discern whether niche initial markets exist where roll-to-roll could have a distinctive advantage and gain traction. Competitive technologies such as LCD and modular LED are discussed and it is determined that roll-to-roll displays must compete with LCD technology on the basis of price in the markets in which LCD has incumbency in order to achieve widespread adoption. The display industry structure is analyzed by means of an assessment of the supply chain, intellectual property landscape, financing mechanisms, and business models to understand how partnerships and financial investment risk are salient aspects of the commercialization process. It is concluded that materials cost advantages over current manufacturing approaches and the timing of roll-to-roll technology integration developments relative to the incremental manufacturing cost decreases in competing technologies will ultimately dictate the success of roll-to-roll manufacturing.by Michael Aaron Randolph.M.Eng