Influence of Encapsulation Size and Textile Integration Techniques on the Wash Durability of Textiles with Integrated Electronic Yarn

A crucial factor when developing E-textiles is ensuring their robustness and functionality during everyday activities, particularly washing. The ability to launder E-textile garments is not merely a matter of convenience but a necessity for widespread adoption. While regular textiles can withstand machine washing, integrating electrical components presents a unique challenge due to their susceptibility to damage from wetting, chemical degradation, (Degradation happens when materials like conductive components, coatings, and embedded electronics deteriorate, which can potentially undermine their performance, conductivity, and structural stability[1–3]due to flexing and abrasion during washing cycles).This work focusses on electronic yarn technology, where electronic functionality is added to textiles by embedding small electronic components into a flexible yarn-like structure. First, the component is soldered onto thin conductive wires. The soldered component is then enclosed in a protective polymer resin (micro-pod). Micro-pods will have different diameters depending on the size of the embedded electronic component. The ensemble is finally covered in a textile sheath.This study focuses on the wash durability of E-yarns integrated with textiles in three different ways: embroidered onto the surface of a woven fabric, within a knitted channel in a knitted fabric, and woven as a weft yarn. Further, the work studied the impact of using different sizes of micro-pods on the electronic yarns’ wash durability. Ultimately good wash durability was observed under all testing conditions.