Special Issue on “Electronic Textiles”

This special issue on electronic textiles was planned together with Wiley and the European Materials Research Society (E-MRS) by the organizers of Symposium J “Electronic textiles” at the E-MRS Spring 2017 meeting in Strasbourg, France. Advanced Materials Technologies is new to the Advanced Materials series at Wiley and focuses specifically on “advanced device design, fabrication and integration, as well as new technologies based on novel materials”. We thus see the journal as an ideal venue for this special issue on this emerging field. Electronic textiles is a multidisciplinary field which is not limited to the characterization and development of novel materials and devices. The field also targets technologies related to the interconnection of electronic functionalities leading to smart networks and to the development of hybrid approaches integrating flexible devices with traditional solid-state electronics. Furthermore, unlike other emerging technologies, electronic textiles are, in part, based on one of humankind's oldest technologies. Well-established sectors, such as the textile and fashion industries, thus play a central role in material and process development, and not just in “end-game” commercialization. This unique connection to industry makes electronic textiles an exciting and dynamic research field where academia and the private sector work hand in hand to advance all aspects of the technology. Our intention for the Electronic Textiles symposium at the E-MRS Spring 2017 meeting was to provide an opportunity for participants to meet leading experts from the research community as well as the electronics and textile/fashion industries. We chose a broad focus for the symposium: fiber-based structures with novel smart functionalities that allow design of innovative and breakthrough applications in wearable and textile-like technologies. The symposium included sessions on smart fabrics and interactive textiles; technology transfer from fibers to the garment to the market; textile energy harvesting and storage; materials for functional fibers; and two sessions on textile sensors and systems. To our great surprise, especially given that this was the first electronic textiles symposium at the E-MRS meeting in Strasbourg, most of the sessions were standing-room-only and the conference room was frequently overloaded by curious participants from parallel sessions. With this special issue, we aim to engage the same scientific and industrial contributions, perspectives, and discussions that captivated the participants in Strasbourg. The invited collection of papers in this Electronic Textiles special issue echoes key presentations from the E-MRS Spring 2017 meeting. The assortment of Full Papers, Reviews, Research News, Essays, and Progress Reports provides the reader with a holistic view of the field and some of the latest achievements in functional devices, interconnects, batteries, wearable communicating systems, and industrial perspectives. The special issue includes Reviews by Danilo Pani and coworkers on textile electrodes for ECG monitoring; Thushar Ghosh and coworkers on flexible interconnects for textiles; Thierry Djenizian and coworkers on integrating electronics into wearables; and Xuli Chen and coworkers on wearable Li-ion batteries. The issue also includes Full Papers, Research News, and Progress Reports covering the latest research results by Isabel del Agua and coworkers on wearable PEDOT:PSS textiles for health monitoring; Xuyuan Tao and coworkers on Bluetooth-based wireless wearables for motion and ECG sensing; Huijuan Lin and coworkers on fiber and fabric batteries; Nils-Krister Persson and coworkers on textile actuators; and Marta Tessorolo and coworkers on wearable textile chemical sensors. Finally, an Essay by Rebeccah Pailes-Friedman discusses design and development of garment-based wearables from an industry perspective. Meetings showcasing the rapid progress in this emerging field are frequently organized within the materials science community, highlighting the growing interest in electronic textiles and associated technologies. We therefore hope this special issue will be published on a regular basis in Advanced Materials Technologies to update the broader community on new and novel achievements. In the meantime, whether you are currently a researcher in electronic textiles or a newcomer to the field, we hope that you enjoy this special issue!