Highly conductive and flexible fiber for textile electronics obtained by extremely low-temperature atomic layer deposition of Pt

Normally fragile cotton fibres can be transformed into conductive fabric sensors using a low-temperature platinum deposition technology. The complex shapes and thermal instability of textiles make them hard to use as substrates for electronic devices. Now, Han-Bo-Ram Lee from Incheon National University in South Korea and co-workers have overcome this issue by developing an approach based on atomic-layer deposition. They exposed surfaces such as strands of hair and cotton threads sequentially to a precursor gas made from organoplatinum molecules, and to oxygen. The parachute-like structure of the precursor's molecules aided the continuous growth of nanometre-thin platinum films at temperatures as low as 80 degrees Celsius. By covering two platinum-coated fibres with an insulating polymer and then crossing them perpendicularly, the researchers produced a capacitive sensor capable of detecting small pressure variations for over 10,000 cycles.