Electronic textile printing for sensing wearables

In the dynamic realm of the Internet of Things, wearable devices offer certain advantages for collecting and analyzing data across a wide range of applications. The seamless integration of sensors into smart garments enables the monitoring of physiological and environmental parameters. This integration of electronics must be imperceptible to the end user, while maintaining the physical and technical properties of a garment, such as comfort and breathability. In that sense, this article explores screen printing as a textile post-processing technique for the integration of electronics with textiles. Screen printing is investigated using two different silver-based inks on a polyester textile substrate. The substrate is first cleaned with nitrogen gas, followed by a low-pressure plasma treatment. A printed sample on PET is used as a reference for comparison. The results indicate the significance of substrate treatment in enhancing the printability properties of textiles. Although some challenges remain to be addressed, the perspectives of printable electronics for sensing textile-based wearables are promising.