E-textile additive process management

Pireta Ltd是一家电子纺织品初创企业，已从国家物理实验室（NPL）分拆出来。Pireta的技术使用创新的化学工艺来增加织物区域的导电性。导电图案可以以高分辨率制备到纺织品上。我们的技术与传统墨水相似并与其竞争，但在重要方面有所不同。Pireta技术允许将电子系统直接组装在织物上，从而实现新一代真正可穿戴的智能服装和电子纺织品。织物首先印有银纳米颗粒（AgNP）催化剂图案。然后将织物放入化学镀铜（e-Cu）槽中，在此过程中，在纤维水平上附着一层薄而耐用的铜层，从而获得优异的导电性，但不会影响织物的性能。这意味着电子产品可以集成到可拉伸、透气、可洗涤的智能服装中，这些服装可以轻松舒适地贴身穿着，使其真正可穿戴。该项目的愿景是批量生产高质量的墨水系统。今天，我们有一个实验室规模的过程，需要创造新的过程干预，以实现我们的目标。详细地说，我们需要实现银纳米颗粒在来自印刷工艺的织物基底上的高保留。纳米颗粒（NP）的浸出产生废物，毒害我们的e-Cu，降低最终产品的导电性。NML致力于开发计量方法，为Pireta提供关键反馈，使其能够创新并创建AgNP沉积技术。此外，在我们具有非常高的沉积速率的e-Cu工艺中，由于我们在织物上电镀，因此将研究消耗和补充之间的动态。NML的e-Cu成分测量将在制定补充策略方面发挥重要作用。NML将开发单颗粒分析技术，Pireta将创新新的AgNP沉积技术。银纳米颗粒浸出的减少将包括印刷织物样品的洗涤程序和银纳米颗粒浓度的分析。因此，用于沉积的新程序将导致减少量的银纳米颗粒从印刷织物中析出，从而显著改善e-Cu浴质量。该项目将验证一系列织物的技术。"

"Pireta Ltd is an e-textile start-up business that has been spun out of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL). Pireta's technology uses an innovative chemical process to add electrical conductivity to areas of fabric. Conductive patterns can be prepared onto textiles with high resolution. Our technology is similar to, and competes with, conventional inks but differs in important respects. Pireta technology allows electronic systems to be assembled directly on fabrics, enabling a new generation of truly wearable smart garments and e-textiles.The fabric is first printed with a silver nanoparticle (AgNP) catalyst pattern. The fabric is then passed into an electroless copper (e-Cu) plating bath, in which the process attaches a thin, highly-durable copper layer at the fibre level, resulting in excellent conductivity but with no impact on the performance of the textile. This means that electronics can be integrated into stretchable, breathable, washable smart garments that can be worn close to the body with ease and comfort, making them truly wearable.The vision of this project is to create high quality ink system at volume. Today we have a laboratory scale process and need to create new process interventions to achieve our aim. In detail we need to achieve high retention of silver nanoparticles on the fabric substrate from a printing process. Leeching of nanoparticles (NP), creates waste, poisons our e-Cu, reduces conductivity in a final product. Innovation by NML working on developing metrology methods that will provide critical feedback to Pireta, to allow it innovate and create deposition techniques for AgNP. Furthermore, in our e-Cu process with very high deposition rates, because we plate on fabrics, the dynamic between consumption and replenishment will be studied. NML's compositional measurement of the e-Cu will be invaluable in creating the replenishment strategy.NML will develop a single particle analysis technique, and Pireta will innovate new AgNP deposition techniques. The reduction in silver nanoparticle leach out will include washing procedures of printed fabric samples and analysis of the silver nanoparticle concentration. Hence, new procedures for the deposition will lead to reduced amounts of silver nanoparticle leach-out from printed fabric, significantly improving e-Cu bath quality. The project will validate techniques for a range of fabrics."