Textile Electronics with Laser-Induced Graphene/Polymer Hybrid Fibers

The concept of wearables is rapidly evolving from flexiblepolymer-baseddevices to textile electronics. The reason for this shift is the abilityof textiles to ensure close contact with the skin, resulting in comfortable,lightweight, and compact "always with you" sensors.We are contributing to this polymer-textile transition by introducinga novel and simple way of laser intermixing of graphene with syntheticfabrics to create wearable sensing platforms. Our hybrid materialsexhibit high electrical conductivity (87.6 & PLUSMN; 36.2 & omega;/sq)due to the laser reduction of graphene oxide and simultaneous laser-inducedgraphene formation on the surface of textiles. Furthermore, the compositecreated between graphene and nylon ensures the durability of our materialsagainst sonication and washing with detergents. Both of these factorsare essential for real-life applications, but what is especially usefulis that our free-form composites could be used as-fabricated withoutencapsulation, which is typically required for conventional laser-scribedmaterials. We demonstrate the exceptional versatility of our new hybridtextiles by successfully recording muscle activity, heartbeat, andvoice. We also show a gesture sensor and an electrothermal heaterembedded within a single commercial glove. Additionally, the use ofthese textiles could be extended to personal protection equipmentand smart clothes. We achieve this by implementing self-sterilizationwith light and laser-induced functionalization with silver nanoparticles,which results in multifunctional antibacterial textiles. Moreover,incorporating silver into such fabrics enables their use as surface-enhancedRaman spectroscopy sensors, allowing for the direct analysis of drugsand sweat components on the clothing itself. Our research offers valuableinsights into simple and scalable processes of textile-based electronics,opening up new possibilities for paradigms like the Internet of MedicalThings.