The Textile is the Substrate: Challenges of Direct-on-Fabric Wearables

We present printing and transfer techniques to realize electronic circuits on clothing where the fabric serves as the substrate for a textile-based printed circuit board. Challenges are considered including patterning on the weave of the fabric, adhesion issues of different inks to fabric substrates (synthetic, natural; stretchable, flexible), and pattern resolution limits. The challenges are considered for multiple patterning techniques involving commercially available and in-house produced conductive inks, as well as transfer processes to fabric of metal interconnect patterns. The research is placed into the context of other e-textile technologies including conductive threads and fiber weaves.