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Graduated compression is widely used for medical application to prevent perioperative venous thromboembolism, but other applications such as sportswear can potentially also benefit from it. A tight-fit cycling shirt meant to ensure the correct position during cycling and prevent injuries was designed. The aim of this study was to improve garment pattern design from the aspect of clothing pressure for providing support and enhancing comfort to the user. This paper investigates the suitability of pressure maps from 3D fashion design software CLO 3D for design and in particular its capability to discriminate between various materials and cycling postures. Moreover, the impact of the mechanical properties of fabric was analyzed. In particular, virtual prototyping tool CLO 3D and pressure mapping were employed to achieve the required graduated compression while ensuring fit and comfort. Pattern adjustments were iteratively performed until stress, strain, and pressure maps showed adequate fit and pressure of the cycling garment on the virtual cyclist in static and dynamic cycling positions. The impact of fabric types on garment fit has been shown by generating the stress, strain, and pressure maps with a virtual simulation. It was found that the visualized pressure on the human body model shows distributions that are related to contact between body and garment, and large compression stresses occur in the lower parts of the two shirts. Evident garment deformation was shown at hip level, upper arm, lower front side seam, and front neck, which can reduce garment wear comfort and freedom of movement. The output was found to be sufficiently accurate to optimize the garments based on material and cycling posture.

The conductive polymer complex poly (3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) is the most explored conductive polymer for conductive textiles applications. Since PEDOT:PSS is readily available in water dispersion form, it is convenient for roll-to-roll processing which is compatible with the current textile processing applications. In this work, we have made a comprehensive review on the PEDOT:PSS-based conductive textiles, methods of application onto textiles and their applications. The conductivity of PEDOT:PSS can be enhanced by several orders of magnitude using processing agents. However, neat PEDOT:PSS lacks flexibility and strechability for wearable electronics applications. One way to improve the mechanical flexibility of conductive polymers is making a composite with commodity polymers such as polyurethane which have high flexibility and stretchability. The conductive polymer composites also increase attachment of the conductive polymer to the textile, thereby increasing durability to washing and mechanical actions. Pure PEDOT:PSS conductive fibers have been produced by solution spinning or electrospinning methods. Application of PEDOT:PSS can be carried out by polymerization of the monomer on the fabric, coating/dyeing and printing methods. PEDOT:PSS-based conductive textiles have been used for the development of sensors, actuators, antenna, interconnections, energy harvesting, and storage devices. In this review, the application methods of PEDOT:SS-based conductive polymers in/on to a textile substrate structure and their application thereof are discussed.

Thermocouples can be combined into thermopiles to sense heat differences or achieve localized heating and cooling. However, integrating them into textiles using yarns is not straightforward, and chemical methods face challenges like complex processing, poor scalability, and voltage non-uniformity. This study employs conventional weaving to fabricate textile-based thermocouples and thermopiles for wearable sensing and potential cooling applications, with a focus on protective clothing. Using stainless steel and nickel-coated carbon yarns, we demonstrate a more stable thermocouple than those made with chemical or welded methods, with minimal fabric damage. Four conductive yarns, stainless steel, carbon fiber (CF), and nickel-coated carbon fiber (NiFC), were woven and laser-cut to form thermocouples using three different binding types to connect them. Inox1–NiFC was the most efficient thermocouple, achieving the highest Seebeck coefficient of 21.87 µV/K with Binding 3. Binding 3 also reduced contact resistance by 66% across all configurations. Slightly lower but comparable performance was seen with Inox1–NiFC/Binding 2 (21.83 µV/K) and Inox2–NiFC/Binding 1 (15.79 µV/K). In contrast, FC-based thermocouples showed significantly lower Seebeck values: 5.67 µV/K (Inox2–FC/Binding 2), 5.43 µV/K (Inox1–FC/Binding 3), and 5.06 µV/K (Inox2–FC/Binding 1). A woven thermopile with three junctions made with the optimal binding and thermocouple combination generated an average of 55.54 µV/K and about 500 µV at small temperature differences (4–5 °C), with a linear voltage response suitable for sensing. While thermal sensing proved effective, Peltier cooling needs further optimization. This method offers a stable, low-cost, and scalable platform for textile-integrated thermoelectric systems, with strong potential for use in uniforms and other protective garments.

In the last three decades, the development of new kinds of textiles, so-called smart and interactive textiles, has continued unabated. Smart textile materials and their applications are set to drastically boom as the demand for these textiles has been increasing by the emergence of new fibers, new fabrics, and innovative processing technologies. Moreover, people are eagerly demanding washable, flexible, lightweight, and robust e-textiles. These features depend on the properties of the starting material, the post-treatment, and the integration techniques. In this work, a comprehensive review has been conducted on the integration techniques of conductive materials in and onto a textile structure. The review showed that an e-textile can be developed by applying a conductive component on the surface of a textile substrate via plating, printing, coating, and other surface techniques, or by producing a textile substrate from metals and inherently conductive polymers via the creation of fibers and construction of yarns and fabrics with these. In addition, conductive filament fibers or yarns can be also integrated into conventional textile substrates during the fabrication like braiding, weaving, and knitting or as a post-fabrication of the textile fabric via embroidering. Additionally, layer-by-layer 3D printing of the entire smart textile components is possible, and the concept of 4D could play a significant role in advancing the status of smart textiles to a new level.

Modern electronic textiles are moving towards flexible wearable textiles, so-called e-textiles that have micro-electronic elements embedded onto the textile fabric that can be used for varied classes of functionalities. There are different methods of integrating rigid microelectronic components into/onto textiles for the development of smart textiles, which include, but are not limited to, physical, mechanical, and chemical approaches. The integration systems must satisfy being flexible, lightweight, stretchable, and washable to offer a superior usability, comfortability, and non-intrusiveness. Furthermore, the resulting wearable garment needs to be breathable. In this review work, three levels of integration of the microelectronics into/onto the textile structures are discussed, the textile-adapted, the textile-integrated, and the textile-based integration. The textile-integrated and the textile-adapted e-textiles have failed to efficiently meet being flexible and washable. To overcome the above problems, researchers studied the integration of microelectronics into/onto textile at fiber or yarn level applying various mechanisms. Hence, a new method of integration, textile-based, has risen to the challenge due to the flexibility and washability advantages of the ultimate product. In general, the aim of this review is to provide a complete overview of the different interconnection methods of electronic components into/onto textile substrate.

The continuous and long-term measurement and monitoring of physiological signals such as electrocardiography (ECG) are very important for the early detection and treatment of heart disorders at an early stage prior to a serious condition occurring. The increasing demand for the continuous monitoring of the ECG signal needs the rapid development of wearable electronic technology. During wearable ECG monitoring, the electrodes are the main components that affect the signal quality and comfort of the user. This review assesses the application of textile electrodes for ECG monitoring from the fundamentals to the latest developments and prospects for their future fate. The fabrication techniques of textile electrodes and their performance in terms of skin–electrode contact impedance, motion artifacts and signal quality are also reviewed and discussed. Textile electrodes can be fabricated by integrating thin metal fiber during the manufacturing stage of textile products or by coating textiles with conductive materials like metal inks, carbon materials, or conductive polymers. The review also discusses how textile electrodes for ECG function via direct skin contact or via a non-contact capacitive coupling. Finally, the current intensive and promising research towards finding textile-based ECG electrodes with better comfort and signal quality in the fields of textile, material, medical and electrical engineering are presented as a perspective.

This paper introduces a non-automatic device to apply biaxial stretch and investigates the effect of biaxial stretch and domestic washing on air permeability of polyamide-elastane knitted fabrics for sportswear. Air permeability of the selected fabrics significantly increased upon biaxial stretch, regardless the fabric type and stretch level (5% or 10%) applied. Generally, air permeability of relaxed fabrics decreased due to slight shrinkage that occurred upon washing, but domestic washing was not found to have a statistical significant influence on air permeability of the selected fabrics. The manual device proposed applies stretch in one or two directions, it is robust and easy to handle, and fabric preparation is quite straightforward. The fabric holder used in this study is particularly suited to the head of the air permeability tester and the level of stretch applied depends on type of fabric.

Long-term electrocardiography (ECG) monitoring is very essential for the early detection and treatment of cardiovascular disorders. However, commercially used silver/silver chloride (Ag/AgCl) electrodes have drawbacks, and these become more obvious during long-term signal monitoring, making them inconvenient for this use. In this study, we developed silver printed textile electrodes from knitted cotton and polyester fabric for ECG monitoring. The surface resistance of printed electrodes was 1.64 Ω/sq for cotton and 1.78 Ω/sq for polyester electrodes. The ECG detection performance of the electrodes was studied by placing three electrodes around the wrist where the electrodes were embedded on an elastic strap with Velcro. The ECG signals collected using textile electrodes had a comparable waveform to those acquired using standard Ag/AgCl electrodes with a signal to noise ratio (SNR) of 33.10, 30.17, and 33.52 dB for signals collected from cotton, polyester, and Ag/AgCl electrodes, respectively. The signal quality increased as the tightness of the elastic strap increased. Signals acquired at 15 mmHg pressure level with the textile electrodes provided a similar quality to those acquired using standard electrodes. Interestingly, the textile electrodes gave acceptable signal quality even after ten washing cycles.

In this work, we have successfully produced a conductive and stretchable knitted cotton fabric by screen printing of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) and poly(dimethylsiloxane-b-ethylene oxide)(PDMS-b-PEO) conductive polymer composite. It was observed that the mechanical and electrical properties highly depend on the proportion of the polymers, which opens a new window to produce PEDOT:PSS-based conductive fabric with distinctive properties for different application areas. The bending length analysis proved that the flexural rigidity was lower with higher PDMS-b-PEO to PEDOT:PSS ratio while tensile strength was increased. The SEM test showed that the smoothness of the fabric was better when PDMS-b-PEO is added compared to PEDOT:PSS alone. Fabrics with electrical resistance from 24.8 to 90.8 kΩ/sq have been obtained by varying the PDMS-b-PEO to PEDOT:PSS ratio. Moreover, the resistance increased with extension and washing. However, the change in surface resistance drops linearly at higher PDMS-b-PEO to PEDOT:PSS ratio. The conductive fabrics were used to construct textile-based strain, moisture and biopotential sensors depending upon their respective surface resistance.

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) are devices that efficiently transform mechanical energy into electrical energy by utilizing the triboelectric effect and electrostatic induction. Embroidery triboelectric nanogenerators (ETENGs) offer a distinct prospect to incorporate energy harvesting capabilities into textile-based products. This research work introduces an embroidered triboelectric nanogenerator that is made using polyester and nylon 66 yarn. The ETENG is developed by using different embroidery parameters and its characteristics are obtained using a specialized tapping and friction device. Nine ETENGs were made, each with different stitch lengths and line spacings for the polyester yarn. Friction and tapping tests were performed to assess the electrical outputs, which included measurements of short circuit current, open circuit voltage, and capacitor charging. One sample wearable embroidered energy harvester collected 307.5 μJ (24.8 V) of energy under a 1.5 Hz sliding motion over 300 s and 72 μJ (12 V) of energy through human walking over 120 s. Another ETENG sample generated 4.5 μJ (3 V) into a 1 μF capacitor using a tapping device with a 2 Hz frequency and a 50 mm separation distance over a duration of 520 s. Measurement of the current was also performed at different pressures to check the effect of pressure and validate the different options of the triboelectric/electrostatic characterization device. In summary, this research explains the influence of embroidery parameters on the performance of ETENG (Embroidery Triboelectric Nanogenerator) and provides valuable information for energy harvesting applications.