An Electrospinning-Electroplating Process to Embed Electronics into Fabrics for E-textiles and Wearables

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The market need for wearable electronics and smart textiles is growing rapidly, however, the integration of advanced electronic circuits to fabrics still faces technological challenges. This grant aims to explore a two-step sequential printing method for direct printing of copper conductors on fabrics. An electrospinning process applies a nanofiber circuit layout on the fabric and an electroplating process coats and solders the circuit as a standard surface-mount electronic component. The proposed technique is promising for the integration of microprocessor-based circuits and smart sensors to garments for developing wearable medical devices for continuous health monitoring of patients, smart soldier vests for carrying more gadgets, and smart textiles for monitoring recreational activities. These advances in e-textiles and wearables greatly impacts the U.S. economy, health and security. This research is a cross-disciplinary effort, which leverages recent advancements within the fields of nanotechnology and electrochemistry. Also, the project plan includes educational and research activities for underrepresented and female undergraduate and graduate students and high school students.High printing resolution of a highly conductive material is needed for the integration of advanced electronic components on fabrics. The two-step manufacturing process includes high resolution direct-writing of electrospun conductive polymer nanofibers on most fabrics followed by hydrogen evolution-assisted electroplating of copper to metalize the nanofibers and weld them to the fabric surface. This research aims to study the impact of the structure of the electrospun polymer layer on the quality of the grown electroplated copper. Also, an important objective of the project is controlling the electroplating process to obtain copper nanostructures for conduction and enhanced attachment of the printed layer to the fabric substrate. Both simulation of the hydrogen evolution-assisted electroplating and experimental studies of copper printing on nanofibers is conducted to address the knowledge gap on integrating the two processes. The research plan includes studying the controlled electrospinning process and localized electroplating for the design of a printing nozzle system that can be used for both patterning a circuit layout on fabrics and soldering standard electronic components at low temperatures.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.