Developing Conductive Textiles for Antennas ~ TexANN

There is a need to develop better processes for manufacturing conducting textiles. Textiles have properties which give them many advantages for clothing, medical devices, shelters but if we want to make them "smart" by connecting them to the internet or a satellite, powering them up or hiding them to certain frequencies, current approaches compromise these properties. There is a proprietary process for making thin, controllable and highly durable conducting layers or tracks on a wide range of textiles. The coating retains the feel and mechanical properties of the original textile (unlike, say, textiles made by incorporating wires), it works on a wide range of surfaces and it is resistant to washing (unlike printed coatings). This project will optimise the process to give the ability to make consistent highly conductive textiles at medium volume (tens of m2 per day) at a price which makes them applicable to a wide range of uses.