Textile electronics for wearable applications

• Published in: International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing 2023-12, Vol.5 (4), p.42007
• Main Authors: Pu, Junhong, Ma, Kitming, Luo, Yonghui, Tang, Shengyang, Liu, Tongyao, Liu, Jin, Leung, Manyui, Yang, Jing, Hui, Ruomu, Xiong, Ying, Tao, Xiaoming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Actuators; Circuits; Electrical properties; Electronics; fibrous materials; Formability; functionalization; integration; Manufacturing; Microelectronics; Production methods; Surface roughness; textile electronics; Textiles; Thermal management; Wearable technology; Weight reduction
• ISSN: 2631-8644; 2631-7990
• DOI: 10.1088/2631-7990/ace66a

Textile electronics have become an indispensable part of wearable applications because of their large flexibility, light-weight, comfort and electronic functionality upon the merge of textiles and microelectronics. As a result, the fabrication of functional fibrous materials and the integration of textile electronic devices have attracted increasing interest in the wearable electronic community. Challenges are encountered in the development of textile electronics in a way that is electrically reliable and durable, without compromising on the deformability and comfort of a garment, including processing multiple materials with great mismatches in mechanical, thermal, and electrical properties and assembling various structures with the disparity in dimensional scales and surface roughness. Equal challenges lie in high-quality and cost-effective processes facilitated by high-level digital technology enabled design and manufacturing methods. This work reviews the manufacturing of textile-shaped electronics via the processing of functional fibrous materials from the perspective of hierarchical architectures, and discusses the heterogeneous integration of microelectronics into normal textiles upon the fabric circuit board and adapted electrical connections, broadly covering both conventional and advanced textile electronic production processes. We summarize the applications and obstacles of textile electronics explored so far in sensors, actuators, thermal management, energy fields, and displays. Finally, the main conclusions and outlook are provided while the remaining challenges of the fabrication and application of textile electronics are emphasized. Major pathways of textile electronics research are introduced, including manufacturing of textile-structured electronics and heterogeneous integration of microelectronics and textiles. The fundamental principles, representative varieties, and challenges and opportunities of each manufacturing or integration technology are elaborated. Recent advancements and urgent challenges in wearable textile electronics are surveyed. Essential tasks and future research directions for wearable microelectronic textile systems are discussed.