Controllable Starching Treatment for High-Performance Strain Sensors and EMG Electrodes in Smart Garments

This study introduces a novel pretreatment strategy using starching agent to control ink-textile interactions for smart garments with integrated textile-based sensors. By modulating ink penetration, we tailored the functionality of printed conductive patterns, achieving significant improvements in their sensing performance. Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose was found to enhance strain sensitivity and flexibility, suitable for precise health monitoring applications. In contrast, ethyl cellulose provided moderate responsiveness, and polyurethane acrylate offered high durability under mechanical stress. In addition, starching with ethyl cellulose reduce the skin-electrode impedance of printed double-sided textile electredes. The application of these techniques was demonstrated through the integration of a printed wrist pulse sensor and EMG electrodes into a smart garment, showing enhanced performance for both cardiovascular monitoring and motion detection.