For electronic textiles (e-textiles) to achieve long-term viability and widespread use, it is necessary to undergo a transformation that enables the development of innovative wearable e-textiles that align with the principles of a sustainable circular economy. This can be achieved by embracing the 4R design idea, which encompasses the following actions: repairing, recycling, replacing, and reducing.
E-textiles are garments or accessories worn in direct contact with the skin and have several uses in fields such as healthcare, gaming, sports training, and environmental monitoring. E-textiles can store and harvest energy, sense, display, actuate, and calculate, thanks to the inclusion of integrated electronic components.
However, the future expansion of e-textiles faces two significant obstacles: primarily, the exorbitant expenses associated with them, leading to a sluggish uptake among consumers. Furthermore, significant environmental expenditures are linked to large-scale manufacturing, specifically water contamination with microplastics. Essentially, we require innovative methods to avert the proliferation of e-textiles from evolving into the subsequent ecological catastrophe of electronic garbage (e-waste).
According to a group of engineers and scientists from the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States, and China, led by the University of Cambridge, the e-textile supply chain and its potential for widespread commercialization could face additional challenges due to the global environmental impact and the increasing use of nanomaterials in e-textiles. It is asserted that specific nanomaterials can present ecological difficulties. It may also harm human health, such as skin irritation and the potential absorption of free nanoparticles into the skin.
In their publication in Nature Materials, the research team introduces the 4R e-textile design concept (repair, recycle, replace, reduce) and advancements in materials selection and fabrication-inspired processing. This groundbreaking approach utilizes additive manufacturing techniques to create biomaterials, devices, cells, and tissues. The objective is to achieve sustainable growth and harmonize economic profitability and scalable commercialization with a strong focus on environmental awareness, considering that customers are actively aligning their purchasing patterns with sustainability objectives.
As per the researchers, the development of 4R-integrated e-textiles can be divided into the following timeline:
In the short term, efforts will be to standardize e-textile platforms, allowing for the integration of different electronic modules. This will lead to the development of advanced processing technologies and the establishment of industry standards, ultimately making e-textiles more inexpensive and accessible to a broader range of consumers.
Additional advancements encompass automated assembly procedures, a repository of functional ink compositions for e-textile developers to employ, and the establishment of standardization in component decoupling predicated on longevity ratings. This initiative also effectively reduces the discharge of electronic micro- or nanoparticles into the water stream.
