Breathable and Washable E-Textile with Readily Integrated Piezoelectric Perfluoroalkoxy Fiber for Wide Temperature...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Textile Engineering
• Wearable Technology

Background:

• Flexible wearable sensors are crucial for human-machine interaction and health monitoring.
• Electronic textiles (E-textiles) integrate sensing fibers into fabrics for comfortable wearables.
• Existing piezoelectric fiber sensors face challenges in comfort and reliability under harsh conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a breathable, washable, and wide-temperature-tolerant E-textile using piezoelectric perfluoroalkoxy (PFA) fibers.
• To combine stable piezoelectric performance with wearing comfort for practical applications.
• To demonstrate the potential of self-powered E-textiles for human-machine interaction.

Main Methods:

• Weft knitting process integrating coaxially structured PFA fibers with wool yarns.
• Characterization of fiber and textile piezoelectric properties (charge and voltage sensitivity).
• Testing of textile performance under wide temperature ranges, washability, UV resistance, and mechanical durability.

Main Results:

• The PFA fiber exhibited a charge sensitivity of (2.6 ± 0.2) pC/N.
• The E-textile achieved high charge sensitivity (316.6 ± 45.9) pC/N and voltage sensitivity (744.9 ± 73.9) mV/N.
• The textile demonstrated stable operation from -78 °C to 150 °C, exceeding 10,000 cycles, and achieved >95% accuracy in gesture recognition with a smart glove.

Conclusions:

• A novel, self-powered, and robust E-textile based on piezoelectric PFA fibers has been successfully developed.
• The developed textile offers excellent breathability, washability, and wide-temperature tolerance, addressing limitations of conventional sensors.
• The PFA-based E-textile shows significant potential for advanced human-machine interaction and wearable sensing applications.