High-Strength and Extensible Electrospun Yarn for Wearable Electronics.

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Textile Engineering
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Wearable electronics require durable, stretchable conductive materials for stability and functionality.
• Current manufacturing methods for high-performance yarn-based devices face challenges in scalability, cost-effectiveness, and achieving both robustness and high stretchability.
• Developing advanced materials is crucial for expanding the applications of flexible and wearable electronic systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To fabricate a highly stretchable and robust conductive yarn for advanced wearable electronic applications.
• To address the limitations of existing materials and manufacturing processes in yarn-based electronics.
• To demonstrate the potential of the developed yarn in diverse applications including sensors, energy transfer, and smart textiles.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a conductive yarn using a core TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) nanoyarn.
• Decoration of the core nanoyarn with a liquid metal (LM) layer.
• Encasement of the LM-decorated yarn with a protective outer nanofiber layer.

Main Results:

• The fabricated yarn exhibits ultrarobustness (40 MPa) and high strain capability (548%).
• The conductive yarn demonstrates potential for use in strain sensors.
• The yarn functions as a deformable, stretchable conductor for charging devices and data transfer.

Conclusions:

• The developed conductive yarn offers a promising solution for high-performance, stretchable electronic textiles.
• This material enables novel applications in human activity monitoring, robotics, and thermal management textiles.
• The simple, cost-effective, and scalable fabrication method facilitates the advancement of flexible and wearable electronics.