Textile electrodes: strategy for the improvement of durability and washability through the use of nanofibres

This thesis work has been carried out at the company AB Tech Lab S.R.L., which is a start-up focused on the study and the development of functional textiles for healthcare, sport, and fashion sectors. The purpose of this work is the evaluation of the state of art of ECG textile electrodes and the development of a possible strategy to overcome the problems related to the industrial production and the marketing of this product. ECG textile electrodes consist of textile fibers, usually made of cotton, polyester, or nylon, coated with a conductive biocompatible material and they could be used for long-term ECG monitoring, solving the discomfort problems of disposable electrodes. The main limit of this technology is the low durability and washability caused by the delamination of the coating from the substrate under harsh conditions. A theoretical possible solution has been proposed based on the miniaturization of the textile substrate, using nanofibres instead of conventional fibers. Based on the new design to produce, technologies already implemented on industrial level and materials with suitable properties have been investigated. Electrospinning proved to be the most suitable technology for the objective, due to the possibility of developing different ordered and oriented structures of the nanofibres. The substrate material was evaluated among the ones already used in textile field, that could be electrospun: the most promising ones are the nylon and the polyester. The coating material has been chosen among the conductors already used for the realization of textile electrode and PEDOT:PSS, that is a conductive polymer, shows suitable capabilities for the impregnation of the substrate. The compatibility of these materials has been investigated based on available results in literature. In the end, new materials with promising properties, that need further investigations, has been described.