CNT/STF/Kevlar-based wearable electronic textile with excellent anti-impact and sensing performance

This work reports a novel CNT/STF/Kevlar-based (CNT, carbon nanotubes; STF, shear thickening fluid) wearable electronic textile (ET) composite with excellent protective and sensing performance. The dynamic impact resistance test shows the maximum resistance force of the single-layer ET composite reaches as high as 1232 N, which is much larger than the neat Kevlar (746 N), indicating that the ET composite can absorb more energy and sustain higher impact force. Due to the incorporation of the carbon nanotubes (CNTs), the ET composite shows excellent conductivity, thus it can be applied as a sensor to monitor signals of various human body movements. Due to the good flexibility, high sensitivity, and excellent protective performance, the ET composite exhibits high potential in the intelligent wearable electronic textile product, which possesses both excellent protective and sensing performance for human bodies in different environments.