Investigation of reverse offset printing for fabricating E-textiles

Abstract

Reverse-offset printing (ROP) is an attractive approach for achieving microscale patterns, particularly in the development of electronic devices on flexible substrates. This work investigates the application of reverse offset printing (ROP) for fabricating e-textiles on fabrics, aiming to advance the field of wearable electronics. To achieve this, a custom ROP system was designed and developed, including the fabrication of a bespoke printer and a movement control program to enable precise ink transfer. Additionally, ink rheology was optimized to meet the requirements of ROP, ensuring high-resolution and uniform deposition. Key developments include achieving 50 μm resolution, enabling precise printing on flexible substrates. Two applications demonstrate the potential of this ROP technology: an interdigital capacitive (IDC) sensor with an encapsulation layers with thickness below 10 μm and finger width and fingers gap of 50 μm on fabrics for atopic dermatitis (AD) monitoring, which improves the reliability and consistency of the sensor’s performance and minimises the reduction in monitoring sensitivity. Electroluminescent (EL) lamps, which ROP replicates from screen printing at pixel widths down to 10 μm, showing improved lighting performance and power efficiency. This research contributes to the field by demonstrating the feasibility and advantages of ROP for high-resolution e-textile fabrication, offering new possibilities for integrating complex electronic functionalities into wearable textiles.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Huanghao Dai: orcid.org/0000-0002-3340-3944

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

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

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