Effect of textile primer layer on screen printed conductors for e-textiles

This paper reports the influence of screen printed polyurethane (PU) primer layer on the electrical behaviour of screen printed conductors. The PU layer smooths the surface of the textile to allow flexible conductors to be printed on it. By varying the thickness of the PU film, the change in the electrical resistance of the conductors during and after bending was examined. Results show that conductors on un-coated fabrics show greater hysteresis of up to 10% more than conductors on the PU coated fabrics. As the thickness of the PU film increases, the printed conductor experiences more stress and consequently a wider variation in its resistance change during bending.