Investigation of the Functional Ageing of Conductive Coated Fabrics under Simulated Washing Conditions

Conductive textiles play an important role in recent electronics development; however, one of the major challenges remains their machine-washing durability. For the investigation of the basic wash ageing mechanisms, we used copper-plated polyamide 66 and cellulose fabrics and developed a wet and dry operable flex tester with online resistance recording. The evaluation was supported by abrasion tests, cyclic elongation tests and tribological investigation of dry and wet textile–textile friction. It was found that the contribution of mechanical and chemical ageing to wash ageing strongly depends on the substrate material. A bad adhesion of copper on polyamide 66 leads to early fatigue while better stability of the copper on cellulose leads to a stronger resistance against ageing. For both substrates, the delamination of the copper layer was the root cause of the fatigue, which is facilitated by the washing solution. Finally, a cumulative fatigue model was developed and the determination of the end of lifetime by the intended use is discussed.