Improvement of Electrical Contact Reliability by Conductive Polymer Coated Elastomer Structure in Woven Electronic Textiles

This article presents an improvement in the stability and durability of the electrical contacts employed in flexible devices. A coating of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): poly(4-styrenesulfonate) in form of a solid conductive layer on a silicone elastomer structure is employed in creating an electrical circuit embedded into the fabric of a woven electronic textile, where the coating serves as an electrical contact between weft and warp ribbons. When the contact load increases to 1 mN, then, due to the flexibility of the structure, an electric current begins to flow through the circuit. The structure can sextuplicate the life of the electrical contact.