Functional Electronic Textiles: Circuit Integration and Energy Harvesting Power Supplies

This paper summarizes the research at the University of Southampton towards integrated autonomous electronic textiles (e-textiles). Textiles are difficult materials to work with due to their surface roughness and pilosity, and the constraints they impose on the processing of materials such as low-temperature curing. Powering autonomous e-textiles is at present also a limitation. This paper presents a technique for reliably integrating electronic circuits into textiles. A wide range of functional e-textiles has been demonstrated. Energy harvesting and storage methods are also evaluated and discussed. Whilst these offer the potential for delivering and storing useful amounts of energy, developing these into reliable and practical solutions remains an ongoing challenge.