Conductive_textile
Conductive textile
Fabric which can conduct electricity
A conductive textile is a fabric which can conduct electricity. Conductive textiles known as lamé are made with guipé thread or yarn that is conductive because it is composed of metallic fibers wrapped around a non-metallic core or has a metallic coating. A different way of achieving conductivity is to weave metallic strands into the textile.
Some historic fabrics use yarns of solid metals, most commonly gold. Alternatively, novel materials such as nanomaterials (including graphene, and carbon nanotubes) or conducting polymers may also be used as the conducting materials.[1] There is also an interest in semiconducting textiles, made by impregnating normal textiles with carbon- or metal-based powders.[2]
Conductive fibers consist of a non-conductive or less conductive substrate, which is then either coated or embedded with electrically conductive elements, often carbon, nickel, copper, gold, silver, titanium or PEDOT. Metals may be deposited chemically with autocatalytic chemistry,[3] printed with conductive nanoparticle inks,[4] or applied with physical vapor deposition methods.[5] Substrates typically include cotton, polyester, nylon, and stainless steel to high performance fibers such as aramids and PBO. Straddling the worlds of textiles and wires, conductive fibers are sold either by weight or length, and measured in denier or AWG.
Because of the rapid growth in the kinds of conductive fibers and the uses of these fibers, a trade association—the Conductive Fiber Manufacturers Council[6]—was formed to increase awareness, utilization, and possibly standardize terminology.