Textile-based electrochemical sensors and their applications

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrochemistry
• Sensor Technology

Background:

• Textile and composite-based functional sensors are increasingly preferred for detection applications.
• Textile materials offer unique advantages like flexibility, wear resistance, and mechanical strength for soft lab-on-fabric devices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent progress in developing textile materials and composites for electrochemical sensors and biosensors.
• To discuss fabrication and functionalization methods for textile-based electrodes.
• To highlight applications in point-of-care diagnostics and environmental monitoring.

Main Methods:

• Integration of conductive fibers/yarns into textiles (weaving, knitting, embroidery).
• Functionalization of textiles with conductive nanomaterials/inks (printing, coating).
• Review of electrode configurations based on natural or synthetic fabrics.

Main Results:

• Textile-based electrochemical transducers enable rapid and accurate electrical measurements.
• These sensors show promising performance for real-time applications.
• Various fabrication and functionalization techniques are available for textile sensors.

Conclusions:

• Textile-based sensors are suitable for point-of-care diagnostics and environmental monitoring.
• Challenges remain in fabricating stable textile-based electrochemical sensors and biosensors.
• Further research is needed to overcome fabrication stability issues.