Multifunctional Graphene-Based Wearable E-Textiles

Abstract

Wearable electronics are becoming increasingly popular, since such technology makes life safer, healthier, and more comfortable. Among them, smart wearable electronic textiles (e-textiles) have been going through significant evolutions in recent years, through the innovation of wearable electronics, due to the miniaturization of technology and the wireless revolution. This has resulted in personalized wearable garments that can interface with the human body and continuously monitor, collect, and communicate various physiological parameters such as temperature, humidity, heart rate, and activity monitoring. Such a platform would potentially provide a solution to the overburdened healthcare system, resulting from a rapidly growing aging society, as well as maintaining and encouraging healthy and independent living for all, irrespective of time and location. However, current technologies for wearable garments are associated with a number of challenges that other electronic technologies do not face, such as the complex and time-consuming manufacturing process of e-textiles, and the use of expensive, non-biodegradable, and unstable, metallic, conductive materials.