Flexible, Stretchable and Washable Filter Printed Directly on Textile

With the emergence of wearable and textile electronics, there is a need to study the effects of flexibility, stretchability and washing on the performance of such electronic components and systems. In this work, we demonstrate an RF filter which has been directly printed on textile (a sports T-shirt in this case). With the help of a stretchable dielectric ink and a stretchable metallic ink, the printed filter on textile can provide decent performance (with little degradation in performance) in stretched conditions (up to 25% stretching), as compared to a non-stretchable metallic ink which develops permanent cracks and cannot be used during or after stretching cycles. The filter is back to its normal performance, once it is released back to its unstretched position. It is also shown that the filter can withstand many washing cycles and can maintain its performance.