Evaluation of Electrical Properties of Metalized Woven and Non-woven Polymer-Based Textiles

The smart textiles seem to be a very interesting possibility in many industrial fields e.g. medicine, automotive, textile industry etc. These types of textile are mainly based on metalized threads. It is necessary to know the physical characteristics of smart textiles before their use for a specific application. This article deals with the preparation and characterization of three types of textiles – copper-coated non-woven polyamide fabric and copper and nickel coated woven polyester fabric. Characterization was based on the measurement of textiles properties like the thickness of metallization, electrical resistance. The measurements of thickness metallization were done at micro-section by electron microscopy. The electrical resistance was evaluated for further usage of these fabrics as a heating system in smart textiles, where a low resistance of the heating part is desirable. The sheet resistance was measured in different directions to obtain information about the isotropic or anisotropic character of samples. The highest electrical resistance had woven copper-coated polyamide fabrics. The anisotropic character of samples was more obvious for woven polyester fabrics.