Study the effect of laundry on the electrical resistance of silver coated vectran conductive yarn for the application of e-textile

Electronic textiles are an early developing hybrid system and require new standards of reliability and permanence for the application of smart wearable textiles. The washing durability of e-textiles is one of the most important aspects of their reliability and maintenance. The standards must meet the requirements for both textile and electronic components of e-textile products. In this paper, the effects of laundry washing on the electrical resistance of silver-coated Vectran (SCV) conductive yarns which are used for the application of wearable e-textile products is studied. Several factors, such as mechanical, thermal, chemical, and other stress do damage to the tiny coated silver particles on the surfaces of SCV conductive yarn during the washing process. The structural changes of SCV conductive yarns were investigated and analyzed by using FTIR and DSC machines. Various peaks observed before and after washing in the SCV conductive yarn were analyzed. The analytical finding shows that the electrical conductivity of SCV conductive yarns was severely affected by repetitive and cyclic laundry. Increased electrical resistance from 0.84 Ω to 1.9 Ω per 0.3 m gauge length after 25 washing cycles was observed