Printed electronics using polymer thick film is experiencing incremental commercial growth when printed onto soft, pliable or stretchable substrate.
PTF electronics on traditional polyester film has reached higher levels of durability with recent design and material advancements, but is limited at 2D flexing, is not pliable and can be a noisy or noticeable interface.
These material durability advancements on PET film have proven to work on pliable substrate as well. The advantage of pliable electronics over PET filmbased electronics is a circuit that can be flexed in 3D for a soft and quiet human-machine or bio-sensor interface.
This paper will describe several ink-substrate combinations for incorporating PTF circuitry onto fabrics, performance levels, ASTM methods being developed and potential applications.