Washable hydrophobic smart textiles and multi-material fibers for wireless communication

摘要: This paper reports on the performance and environmental endurance of recently presented wirelessly communicating smart textiles with integrated multi-material fiber antennas. Metal–glass–polymer composites were fabricated using sub-1 mm hollow-core silica fibers liquid state silver deposition technique. These then into in form center-fed dipole loop antennas during standard weaving procedure. Fiber was found to be directly comparable classic 'rigid' solutions terms return loss, gain radiation patterns, which allowed transmitting data through Bluetooth protocol at 2.4 GHz frequency. Applied superhydrophobic coatings (water contact angle = 152°, sliding 6°) allow uninterrupted wireless communication under direct water application even after multiple washing cycles.