Industrially scalable pressure-sensitive smart textile sensors have been developed using graphite-polyurethane (G-PU) composite materials by the plasma-assisted dip-pad-dry-cure method. The advantage of this technique is that it is easy, simple, and suitable for high-volume production with industrially available machinery. The sandwich structure sensor has been constructed with the pressure-sensitive textile semiconductor and embroidery electrodes for manufacturing a single sensor and sensor matrix, which can detect touch, pressure, movement, etc., and send information wirelessly (via smartphone) to the user in real-time. The sensibility, hysteresis behavior, repeatability, and stability against washing, martindale abrasion, etc. of the piezoresistive polyester (PES) textile sensor have been optimized by the plasma-assisted semiconductive coating. The smart textile sensor built into this work provides flexibility, breathability, and wearability and can be easily integrated into wearable items allowing for object detection by scanning their weight, movement, interactive floor mate, and seat sensor mate for dynamic posture detection and sensor hand glove to translate finger movement into sign language (e.g., text or audio able). All necessary electronics and software associated with the relevant application have been developed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the products in a real-world demonstration, which encourages the widespread use of smart textile piezoresistive sensors for a variety of applications in flexible electronics sectors.
Keywords: flexible electronics; graphite−polyurethane; piezoresistive sensor; plasma; pressure sensor; smart textile.