Textile sensing glove with piezoelectric PVDF fibers and printed electrodes of PEDOT:PSS

Abstract

The development of an entirely polymer-based motion sensing glove with possible applications, for example, in physical rehabilitation is described. The importance of comfort for the wearer and the possibility to clean the glove in normal laundering processes were important aspects in the development. The glove is all textile and manufactured using materials and methods suitable for standard textile industry processes. For the first time, melt-spun piezoelectric poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) fibers with conductive cores were machine embroidered onto a textile glove to function as a sensor element. Electrodes and electrical interconnections were constituted by a screen printed conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) formulation. The screen printing of the interconnections was shown to be a reliable method for reproducible material deposition, resulting in an average surface resistivity value of 57 Ω/square. A repeated strain of 10% only influenced the resistance of the interconnections initially and to a very limited extent. The influence of washing on the electrical resistance of the printed interconnections was also studied; after 15 wash cycles the average surface resistivity was still below 500 Ω/square, which was deemed sufficient for the polymeric sensor system to remain functional during long-term use. Sensor data from the glove was also successfully used as input to a microcontroller running a robot gripper, in order to demonstrate its potential applications.