Liquid X Printed Metals, an advanced material manufacturer of functional metallic inks, has announced a collaboration effort with Bonbouton (a company focused on developing thermal sensing applications using a smart textile platform) to build graphene-enhanced temperature and pressure sensors directly on textiles using additive manufacturing techniques.
Through Bonbouton’s inkjet-printable graphene technology, licensed from the Stevens Institute of Technology, the Company is developing thin and mechanically flexible sensors for wearable physiology monitoring. This gives consumers wearable personal health options that are unobtrusive, comfortable and attractive, while still enabling the collection of accurate, precise and useful data.
Through this collaboration, Liquid X will use its proprietary particle-free inks to inkjet print interconnects directly on textiles. These interconnects carry signals from a graphene-sensing layer back to device hardware, where the data can be analyzed. Liquid X’s unique ability to metalize textile fibers reduces steps in the manufacturing process of electronically integrated textiles and employs a low-cost, scalable manufacturing method widely utilized in the textile industry. The Company stated: “We have seen many companies trying to claim the durable conductive trace on textiles but the Liquid X technology truly stands out and we share the same passion for the future of printed electronics.”
“This collaboration builds on Liquid X’s vision of using our functional metallic inks for designing and developing functional components for electronic devices. With the move to our new lab facility in RIDC Park West, we now have a full range of equipment along with the technical expertise necessary to build and test prototypes,” said Beth Vasy, Vice President of Operations at Liquid X.
The two companies expect to have prototype models developed and tested for industry by 2019Flex, starting on February 18, 2019 in Monterey, California.
