Biodegradable e-textile uses graphene electrode
A research team led by the University of Southampton and UWE Bristol in the UK has shown wearable electronic textiles with a graphene electrode that can be both sustainable and biodegradable.
The ‘Smart, Wearable, and Eco-friendly Electronic Textiles’ (SWEET) project also involved the universities of Exeter, Cambridge, Leeds and Bath, and developed a new sustainable approach for fully inkjet-printed, eco-friendly e-textiles.
These e-textiles need to be durable, safe to wear and comfortable, but also sustainable. The team’s design has three layers, a sensing layer, a layer to interface with the sensors and a base fabric. It uses a textile called Tencel for the base, which is made from renewable wood and is biodegradable. The active electronics in the design are made from graphene, along with a polymer called PEDOT: PSS. These conductive materials are precision inkjet-printed onto the fabric.
The researchers tested samples of the material for continuous monitoring of human physiology using five volunteers. Swatches of the fabric, connected to monitoring equipment, were attached to gloves worn by the participants. Results confirmed the material can effectively and reliably measure both heart rate and temperature at the industry standard level.
“Integrating electrical components into conventional textiles complicates the recycling of the material because it often contains metals, such as silver, that don’t easily biodegrade. Our potential ecofriendly approach for selecting sustainable materials and manufacturing overcomes this, enabling the fabric to decompose when it is disposed of,” said Professor Nazmul Karim at the University of Southampton’s Winchester School of Art.
“Achieving reliable, industry-standard monitoring with eco-friendly materials is a significant milestone. It demonstrates that sustainability doesn’t have to come at the cost of functionality, especially in critical applications like healthcare,” said Dr Shaila Afroj, an Associate Professor of Sustainable Materials from the University of Exeter.
The project team buried the e-textiles in soil to measure its biodegradable properties. After four months, the fabric had lost 48 percent of its weight and 98 percent of its strength, suggesting relatively rapid and also effective decomposition. Furthermore, a life cycle assessment revealed the graphene-based electrodes had up to 40 times less impact on the environment than standard electrodes.
“Our life cycle analysis shows that graphene-based e-textiles have a fraction of the environmental footprint compared to traditional electronics. This makes them a more responsible choice for industries looking to reduce their ecological impact,” said Marzia Dulal from UWE Bristol and the first author of the study.
The researchers hope they can now move forward with designing wearable garments made from SWEET for potential use in the healthcare sector, particularly in the area of early detection and prevention of heart-related diseases.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/eem2.12854
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