Interleaving of screen printed PEDOT:PSS/ Ag nanowires ink via bottom-up approach into flexible polyurethane coats patterned on bi-stretch fabrics for multimodal sensing and IR heating

Textile-integrated wearable sensors have exhibited an immense potential to transform human life by fetching safety and comfort at the forefront. This work underscores a novel design approach to fabricate textile-integrated multimodal sensors using a conductive ink coated bi-stretch nylon fabric. Conductive ink has been formulated by dispersing high aspect ratio silver nanowires into water-dispersed PEDOT: PSS solution with polyvinylpyrrolidone that allows sensing of various stimuli, including mechanical strains, temperature, humidity, etc. The fabrication of sensing elements involves the interleaving of screen-printed conductive ink into flexible coats, using water-borne polyurethane, achieved by the facile pad-dry-cure technique on bi-stretch fabric like a sandwich. Remarkable mechanical strain sensing performance in terms of sensitivity, repeatability, and stability has been demonstrated along with flexibility, bendability, and compliant form factor, making them suitable for applications in wearable technology and smart textiles. Moreover, the temperature and humidity sensing exhibit rapid response and wide detection ranges, making the sensor adaptable to diverse environmental conditions. The sensing fabric responds well to different strain and compression conditions. The as-developed fabric can also operate as an IR heating element when biased at certain operating conditions. These attributes make such elements an ideal candidate for various applications, such as human motion tracking, environmental monitoring, and healthcare devices. The sensor's low-cost, solvent-free production and scalability make it a practical choice for mass adoption. [Display omitted] •Silver nanowires integrated functional ink was synthesized using polyol method.•PEDOT: PSS was used as a conducting polymer blend to impart resilient sensing performance.•The conductive ink interleaved between the two coats of water-borne polyurethane.•Functional ink coated on nylon fabric exhibited extreme sensitivity to various stimuli.•Multimodal sensor performance in terms of environment, health, etc as a wearable patch is projected.