Heterogeneous e-textiles: materials, manufacturing and sustainability

Abstract

Electronic textiles (e-textiles) combine electronic functions (e.g., sensing, actuating, data processing) with textiles. E-textiles are a platform technology with the potential for ubiquitous deployment in any application scenario where textiles can be found. E-textiles have attracted significant research interests from materials and manufacturing process development to applications such as sports/fitness, healthcare, and workwear. While significant advances have been made in the research domain regarding the integration of electronic functionality, the technology is relatively immature and significant challenges remain in the manufacturing of commercialized e-textile systems. This paper reviews the state of the art in e-textile manufacturing including materials (e.g., yarns, inks), fabrication (e.g., weaving, knitting, printing), electronic integration and interconnections. This paper also reviews the key principles of textile sustainability and electronic waste (e-waste management, which provide useful guidance on e-textile design and manufacturing to minimize their impact on the environment. Examples are given to demonstrate the early work toward sustainable e-textiles. The remaining research challenges regarding scalable and sustainable manufacturing of e-textiles are presented.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Stephen P. Beeby: orcid.org/0000-0002-0800-1759

ORCID for Russel N. Torah: orcid.org/0000-0002-5598-2860

ORCID for Kai Yang: orcid.org/0000-0001-7497-3911

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