Chapters authored
Giving Functional Properties to Fabrics Containing Polyester Fibres from Poly (Ethylene Terephthalate) with the Printing Method
Part of the book: Polyester
Development Trends in Electronics Printed: Intelligent Textiles Produced with the Use of Printing Techniques on Textile Substrates
The authors concentrated their attention on the new area of research, concerning properties of electrically conductive textiles, produced by printing techniques. Such materials can be used for monitoring, for example, the rhythm of breathing. The aim of this study was to develop a sensor of strains for the needs of wearable electronics. A resistance‐type sensor was made on a knitted fabric with shape memory, dedicated to monitor motor activity of human. The Weftloc knitted fabric shows elastic memory—thanks to the presence of elastomeric fibers. The dependence of sensoric properties of the Weftloc knitted fabric on the values of load, its increment rate, and its direction of action was tested. Mechanical parameters including total and elastic strain, elasticity degree, and strength were also assessed. The results indicate an anisotropic character of mechanical and sensoric behaviors of the sensor showing a particularly optimal behavior during diagonal loading. Electro‐conductive properties have been imparted to the Weftloc fabric by chemical deposition of polypyrrole dopped with Cl ions. In addition, authors used as a carrier functional water dispersion of carbon nanotubes AquaCyl that was adapted in the Department of Material and Commodity Sciences and Textile Metrology for forming electrically conductive pathways by film printing method. It was assumed that the electrically conductive paths are sensitive to chemical stimuli. Studies of the effectiveness of the sensors for chemical stimuli were conducted for selected pairs of liquids. The best sensory properties were obtained for the methanol vapor—the relative resistance (Rrel.) at the level above 40%. In the case of nonpolar liquid vapor, the sensoric sensitivity of the printed fabric was much lower, with Rrel. level below 29%. Properties of the electrically conductive materials, such as thermal conductivity, electrical conductivity, and resistance to chemicals, allow for widely using them nanotechnology.
Part of the book: Printed Electronics