Stretchable electronic strips for electronic textiles enabled by 3D helical structure

Stanley, J ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9393-6104, Kunovski, P, Hunt, JA ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5168-4778 and Wei, Y ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6195-8595, 2024. Stretchable electronic strips for electronic textiles enabled by 3D helical structure. Scientific Reports, 14: 11065. ISSN 2045-2322

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Abstract

The development of stretchable electronic devices is a critical area of research for wearable electronics, particularly electronic textiles (e-textiles), where electronic devices embedded in clothing need to stretch and bend with the body. While stretchable electronics technologies exist, none have been widely adopted. This work presents a novel and potentially transformative approach to stretchable electronics using a ubiquitous structure: the helix. A strip of flexible circuitry (‘e-strip’) is twisted to form a helical ribbon, transforming it from flexible to stretchable. A stretchable core—in this case rubber cord—supports the structure, preventing damage from buckling. Existing helical electronics have only extended to stretchable interconnects between circuit modules, and individual components such as printed helical transistors. Fully stretchable circuits have, until now, only been produced in planar form: flat circuits, either using curved geometry to enable them to stretch, or using inherently stretchable elastomer substrates. Helical e-strips can bend along multiple axes, and repeatedly stretch between 30 and 50%, depending on core material and diameter. LED and temperature sensing helical e-strips are demonstrated, along with design rules for helical e-strip fabrication. Widely available materials and standard fabrication processes were prioritized to maximize scalability and accessibility.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Scientific Reports
Creators:	Stanley, J., Kunovski, P., Hunt, J.A. and Wei, Y.
Publisher:	Springer
Date:	14 May 2024
Volume:	14
ISSN:	2045-2322
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1038/s41598-024-61406-7 DOI 2309911 Other
Rights:	© the author(s) 2024. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Divisions:	Schools > School of Science and Technology
Record created by:	Jonathan Gallacher
Date Added:	04 Dec 2024 09:57
Last Modified:	04 Dec 2024 09:57
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/52694

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