Advances in the Robustness of Wearable Electronic Textiles: Strategies, Stability, Washability and Perspective.

Flexible electronic textiles are the future of wearable technology with a diverse application potential inspired by the Internet of Things (IoT) to improve all aspects of wearer life by replacing traditional bulky, rigid, and uncomfortable wearable electronics. The inherently prominent characteristics exhibited by textile substrates make them ideal candidates for designing user-friendly wearable electronic textiles for high-end variant applications. Textile substrates (fiber, yarn, fabric, and garment) combined with nanostructured electroactive materials provide a universal pathway for the researcher to construct advanced wearable electronics compatible with the human body and other circumstances. However, e-textiles are found to be vulnerable to physical deformation induced during repeated wash and wear. Thus, e-textiles need to be robust enough to withstand such challenges involved in designing a reliable product and require more attention for substantial advancement in stability and washability. As a step toward reliable devices, we present this comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art advances in substrate geometries, modification, fabrication, and standardized washing strategies to predict a roadmap toward sustainability. Furthermore, current challenges, opportunities, and future aspects of durable e-textiles development are envisioned to provide a conclusive pathway for researchers to conduct advanced studies.

Investigation of the Shrinkage and Air Permeability of Woolen Blankets and Blankets Made with Regenerated Wool.

The aim of this article was to compare the shrinkage and air permeability properties of woolen fabrics and fabrics with regenerated wool woven with different weaves for establishing the suitability of regenerated wool for blankets. Two series of products with yarns of different raw materials were woven. One group of fabrics was woven with regenerated woolen yarn in the weft and woolen yarn in the warp. The other group of fabrics was woven only from 100% woolen yarns. The shrinkage in the directions of the warp and the weft and the air permeability of the fabrics with regenerated wool and 100% woolen fabrics with different weaves were investigated. The shrinkage in the directions of the warp and the weft in the fabrics with regenerated wool in the weft and 100% woolen fabrics depended on the float length in the weave. When the length of the weave increased, the shrinkage also increased. The air permeability value changed depending on the number of intersections and the float length. The fabrics with regenerated wool in the direction of the weft had higher air permeability. The Two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) results showed that the weave influenced the shrinkage in the directions of the weft and warp, but the raw material had no influence on the shrinkage. The weave did not influence the air permeability, in contrast to the raw material. The shrinkage in the directions of the warp and weft and the air permeability did not depend on the interrelationships of the weave group and the raw material of the fabric.

The Influence of Finishing on the Pilling Resistance of Linen/Silk Woven Fabrics.

The pilling resistance of fashion fabrics is a fundamentally important and frequently occurring problem during cloth wearing. The aim of this investigation was to evaluate the pilling performance of linen/silk woven fabrics with different mechanical and chemical finishing, establishing the influence of the raw material and the peculiarities of dyeing and digital printing with different dyestuff. The pilling results of the dyed fabrics were better than those of the grey fabrics and even a small amount of synthetic fiber worsened the pilling performance of the fabric. Singeing influenced the change in the pilling resistance of the linen/silk fabrics without changing the final pilling resistance result. Singeing had a stronger influence on the fabrics with a small amount of synthetic fibers. The pilling resistance of printed fabrics was better than that of grey and dyed fabrics without and with singeing. The pilling resistance of pigment-printed fabrics was better than that of the reactive-printed fabrics.

Method of Predicting the Crimp of Jacquard-Woven Fabrics.

The aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of crimp in new jacquard fabric structures (in which one-layer and two-layer weaves are combined) in the fabric width and to create a method of crimp prediction. It was established that crimp was around 18.80% and changed within the limits of errors, i.e., a range of only ~4%, in the fabric width. It can therefore be said that the warp crimp was constant in the fabric width. Because the warp crimp of jacquard fabric changed insignificantly (within the limits of errors), it can be stated that the fabric-setting parameters and structural solutions were chosen and matched correctly, and such fabric can be woven on any jacquard weaving loom.

Comparison of Mechanical and End-Use Properties of Grey and Dyed Cellulose and Cellulose/Protein Woven Fabrics.

The behaviour of textile products made from different fibres during finishing has been investigated by many scientists, but these investigations have usually been performed with cotton or synthetic yarns and fabrics. However, the properties of raw materials such as linen and hemp (other cellulose fibres) and linen/silk (cellulose/protein fibres) have rarely been investigated. The aim of the study was to investigate and compare the mechanical (breaking force and elongation at break) and end-use (colour fastness to artificial light, area density, and abrasion resistance) properties of cellulose and cellulose/protein woven fabrics. For all fabrics, ΔE was smaller than three, which is generally imperceptible to the human eye. Flax demonstrated the best dyeability, and hemp demonstrated the poorest dyeability, comparing all the tested fabrics. The colour properties of fabrics were greatly influenced by the washing procedure, and even different fabric components of different weaves lost their colours in different ways. Flax fibres were more crystalline than hemp, and those fibres were more amorphous, which decreased the crystallinity index of flax in flax/silk blended fabric. Unwashed flax fabric was more resistant to artificial light than flax/silk or hemp fabrics. Finishing had a great influence on the abrasion resistance of fabrics. The yarn fibre composition and the finishing process for fabrics both influenced the mechanical (breaking force and elongation at break) and end-use (area density and abrasion resistance) properties of grey and finished fabrics woven from yarns made of different fibres.