Electronic or conductive textiles have attracted particular attention because of their potential applications in the fields of energy storage, supercapacitors, solar cells, health care devices, etc. Contrary to solid materials, the properties of textile materials such as stretchability, foldability, washability, etc. make the textiles ideal support materials for electronic devices. Therefore, in recent years, various conductive materials and production methods have been researched extensively to make the textiles conductive. In the present study, an alternative method based on imparting the conductivity to the fiber-based structure for the production of conductive textiles was established. Considering the contribution of unique characteristics of the fiber-based structure to the clothing systems, imparting the conductivity to the fibrous structure before yarn and fabric production may help to protect the breathable, lightweight, softness, deformable and washable of textile structure, and hence to improve the wearability properties of the electronic textiles. In the study, carbon black nanoparticles were selected as a conductive material due to low cost and easy procurable while cotton fiber together with other fiber types such as polyester, acrylic and viscose rayon fibers were used due to their common usage in the textile industry. In addition, various production parameters (CB concentration, feeding rate, etc.) were analyzed and the results indicated that the developed alternative method is capable to produce conductive yarns and electrical resistance of the yarns was about 94–4481 kΩ. The yarns had comparable yarn tenacity and breaking elongation properties, and still carried conductive character even after washing. In literature, there has been no effort to get conductivity in this manner and the method can be considered to be a new application for added-on or built-in future wearable electronics. Also, in the study, produced conductive yarns were used as a collector to gather the nanofibers onto the yarn to produce hybrid yarns enabling the production of functional textile products.
Future Trend in Wearable Electronics in the Textile Industry