Laser-Assisted Patterning of Metallized Fabrics for Washable and Durable Electronic Textiles

Abstract

Wearable electronic textiles (e-textiles) are increasingly being explored for continuous, noninvasive physiological monitoring; however, scalable fabrication of high-resolution circuitry with long-term mechanical and washing durability remains a major challenge. Conventional approaches, including screen printing, inkjet printing, and conductive-thread embroidery, enable the integration of conductive traces into garments but often suffer from limited patterning resolution, binder-related degradation, mechanical instability, and unreliable interfacing with electronic components. Here, we present a selective laser-assisted ablation method for directly defining conductive circuit traces on single-sided metallized fabrics (MFs) composed of woven, multi-stranded silver fiber yarns. This mask-free and chemical-free process enables rapid, digitally programmable patterning while preserving the structural integrity, flexibility, and breathability of the underlying textile. Importantly, localized laser heating simultaneously removes conductive fibers in selected regions and thermally fuses the exposed ends of adjacent silver yarns, thereby suppressing fraying and enhancing the mechanical robustness of the patterned circuit edges. Using a neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser tuned for high absorption by silver, controlled ablation at energy densities of 8–26.5 J·cm⁻² produced well-defined insulating regions without compromising the conductivity of neighboring traces. Surface and elemental analyses confirmed nearly complete silver removal, with residual silver content below 3% in the ablated areas. The resulting laser-ablated metallized fabric (LA-MF) exhibited low sheet resistance (approximately 2 mΩ/sq.), retained more than 94% of its initial conductivity after 10000 bending cycles, and maintained stable electrical performance after more than 20 machine-washing cycles. As a proof of concept, a 16-electrode electrical impedance tomography (EIT) array was patterned directly onto the MF and integrated into a compression garment for noninvasive lung-function monitoring. The textile electrodes enabled real-time impedance imaging, and an embedded convolutional neural network accurately classified respiratory states, including normal breathing and breath-hold conditions, even after repeated laundering. This laser-assisted patterning framework provides a robust, scalable, and manufacturing-compatible route for integrating high-performance circuit architectures directly into fabrics for wearable sensing, healthcare monitoring, and next-generation smart textile applications.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords

Laser-assisted patterning / Wearable electronics / Electrical impedance tomography / Wearable health monitoring / Metallized fabrics

References

[1] Sinha R. The role and impact of new technologies on healthcare systems. Discov Heal Syst, 2024, 3 96

[2] Walter JR, Xu S, Rogers JA. From lab to life: how wearable devices can improve health equity. Nat Commun, 2024, 15: 123

[3] Li Y, Sun Y, Lu Q, Lu Y, Kong D. Recent advances in stretchable and permeable electrodes for epidermal electronics. Adv Sens Res, 2024, 3 2300195

[4] Okeleke K, Joiner J, Ballon HA, Borole S, Kolta E. The mobile economy 2025. GSMA Intelligence. 2025.

[5] Ubrani J, Reith R, Llamas RT. Wearable devices market insights. IDC. 2026.

[6] Carreon M, Cruz MDL, Wang F, Pan S. IDC: global wrist-worn device shipments grew 10.5% in Q1 2025. IDC. 2025.

[7] Huang G, Chen X, Liao C. AI-driven wearable bioelectronics in digital healthcare. Biosensors, 2025, 15 410

[8] Taherdoost H. Wearable healthcare and continuous vital sign monitoring with IoT integration. Comput Mater Contin, 2024, 81: 79

[9] Erdem A, Eksin E, Senturk H, Yildiz E, Maral M. Recent developments in wearable biosensors for healthcare and biomedical applications. TrAC Trends Anal Chem, 2024, 171 117510

[10] Abhinav V, Basu P, Verma SS, Verma J, Das A, Kumari S, et al.. Advancements in wearable and implantable BioMEMS devices: transforming healthcare through technology. Micromachines, 2025, 16 522

[11] Xu C, Yang Y, Gao W. Skin-interfaced sensors in digital medicine: from materials to applications. Matter, 2020, 2: 1414

[12] Liu S, Rao Y, Jang H, Tan P, Lu N. Strategies for body-conformable electronics. Matter, 2022, 5: 1104

[13] Libanori A, Chen G, Zhao X, Zhou Y, Chen J. Smart textiles for personalized healthcare. Nat Electron, 2022, 5: 142

[14] Ye S, Feng S, Huang L, Bian S. Recent progress in wearable biosensors: from healthcare monitoring to sports analytics. Biosensors, 2020, 10 205

[15] Wicaksono I, Tucker CI, Sun T, Guerrero CA, Liu C, Woo WM, et al.. A tailored, electronic textile conformable suit for large-scale spatiotemporal physiological sensing in vivo. npj Flex Electron, 2020, 4 5

[16] Ding Y, Jiang J, Wu Y, Zhang Y, Zhou J, Zhang Y, et al.. Porous conductive textiles for wearable electronics. Chem Rev, 2024, 124: 1535

[17] Liu H, Shi Y, Pan Y, Wang Z, Wang B. Sensory interactive fibers and textiles. npj Flex Electron., 2025, 9: 23

[18] Du K, Lin R, Yin L, Ho JS, Wang J, Lim CT. Electronic textiles for energy, sensing, and communication. iScience, 2022, 25 104174

[19] Huang F-C, Sun X-D, Shi Y, Pan L-J. Textile electronics for ubiquitous health monitoring. Soft Sci, 2024, 4 37

[20] Yin J, Li J, Reddy VS, Ji D, Ramakrishna S, Xu L. Flexible textile-based sweat sensors for wearable applications. Biosensors, 2023, 13 127

[21] Meena JS, Choi SB, Jung S-B, Kim J-W. Electronic textiles: new age of wearable technology for healthcare and fitness solutions. Mater Today Bio, 2023, 19 100565

[22] Yin J, Wang S, Di Carlo A, Chang A, Wan X, Xu J, et al.. Smart textiles for self-powered biomonitoring. Med-X, 2023, 1 3

[23] Cesarelli G, Donisi L, Coccia A, Amitrano F, D’Addio G, Ricciardi C. The e-textile for biomedical applications: a systematic review of literature. Diagnostics, 2021, 11 2263

[24] Ruckdashel RR, Khadse N, Park JH. Smart e-textiles: overview of components and outlook. Sensors, 2022, 22 6055

[25] Agcayazi T, Chatterjee K, Bozkurt A, Ghosh TK. Flexible interconnects for electronic textiles. Adv Mater Technol, 2018, 3 1700277

[26] Dejene BK. The future of fabric: a comprehensive review of self-powered smart textiles and their emerging applications. Energy Rep, 2025, 14: 898

[27] Stanley J, Hunt JA, Kunovski P, Wei Y. A review of connectors and joining technologies for electronic textiles. Eng Rep, 2022, 4e12491

[28] Simegnaw AA, Malengier B, Rotich G, Tadesse MG, Van Langenhove L. Review on the integration of microelectronics for e-textile. Materials, 2021, 14 5113

[29] Islam MR, Afroj S, Yin J, Novoselov KS, Chen J, Karim N. Advances in printed electronic textiles. Adv Sci, 2024, 11 2304140

[30] Tseghai GB, Malengier B, Fante KA, Nigusse AB, Van Langenhove L. Integration of conductive materials with textile structures, an overview. Sensors, 2020, 20 6910

[31] Ibanez Labiano I, Arslan D, Ozden Yenigun E, Asadi A, Cebeci H, Alomainy A. Screen printing carbon nanotubes textiles antennas for smart wearables. Sensors, 2021, 21 4934

[32] Karim N, Afroj S, Tan S, Novoselov KS, Yeates SG. All inkjet-printed graphene-silver composite ink on textiles for highly conductive wearable electronics applications. Sci Rep, 2019, 9 8035

[33] Hong H, Hu J, Yan X. UV curable conductive ink for the fabrication of textile-based conductive circuits and wearable UHF RFID tags. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces, 2019, 11: 27318

[34] Boumegnane A, Nadi A, Dahrouch A, Stambouli A, Cherkaoui O, Tahiri M. Investigation of silver conductive ink printable on textiles for wearable electronics applications: effect of silver concentration and polymer matrix. Fibers Polym, 2023, 24: 2977

[35] Islam MR, Afroj S, Beach C, Islam MH, Parraman C, Abdelkader A, et al.. Fully printed and multifunctional graphene-based wearable e-textiles for personalized healthcare applications. iScience, 2022, 25 103945

[36] Hong H, Jiyong H, Moon K-S, Yan X, Wong C. Rheological properties and screen printability of UV curable conductive ink for flexible and washable e-textiles. J Mater Sci Technol, 2021, 67: 145

[37] Dejene BK. Inkjet printing of conductive nanomaterials on textiles for wearable electronics: advancements, challenges, and future prospects. Mater Today Adv, 2025, 28 100629

[38] Bae K, Heo B, Hwang K, Jo E, Kang Y, Pyo S, et al.. Washable heat-resistant and inkjet-printed devices on cotton fabric for wearable applications. Nat Commun, 2025, 16: 8615

[39] Toral V, Albrecht A, Castillo E, García A, Becherer M, Rivadeneyra A. Properties of silver chloride and carbon screen printed patterns on different textiles. Text Res J, 2022, 92: 2711

[40] Wang L, Pan Y, He D, Qian L, Cao X, He B, et al.. Conductive polyester fabrics with high washability as electrocardiogram textile electrodes. ACS Appl Polym Mater, 2022, 4: 1440

[41] Cai Z, Ye K, Luo H, Tang J, Yang G, Xie H, et al.. Textile hybrid electronics for multifunctional wearable integrated systems. Research (Wash D C), 2025, 80779

[42] Li P, Guo K, Li J, Wang H, Xue K, Lin H, et al.. Battery-free, wireless, multilevel structure fabric pressure sensing belt for imperceptible sleep monitoring. Adv Fiber Mater, 2025, 7: 1514

[43] Beeby SP, Torah RN, Wagih M, Isaia B, Black S, Saunders J, et al.. Heterogeneous e-textiles: materials, manufacturing and sustainability. Adv Mater Technol, 2025, 10 2400844

[44] Lin R, Kim H-J, Achavananthadith S, Xiong Z, Lee JKW, Kong YL, et al.. Digitally-embroidered liquid metal electronic textiles for wearable wireless systems. Nat Commun, 2022, 13 2190

[45] Vasilev S, Hoerr M, Kasdorf M, Boehmer S. Mass production of e-textiles using embroidery technology. Eng Proc, 2024, 52: 8

[46] Rasheed A, Abbas A, Baig ML, Ramzan B, Wang L, Shirvanimoghaddam K, et al.. Design, fabrication, and evaluation of embroidered textile electrodes for wearables under mechanical and washing stress. J Text Inst, 2026, 117 1631

[47] Wang Z, Zhang L, Bayram Y, Volakis JL. Embroidered conductive fibers on polymer composite for conformal antennas. IEEE Trans Antennas Propag, 2012, 60: 4141

[48] Kim J, Kim S, Kim J. Classification of embroidered conductive stitches using a structural neural network. Fibers, 2025, 13 140

[49] Lam NYK, Tan J, Toomey A, Cheuk KCJ. Washability and abrasion resistance of illuminative knitted e-textiles with POFs and silver-coated conductive yarns. Fash Text, 2022, 9 39

[50] Wang P, Ma X, Lin Z, Chen F, Chen Z, Hu H, et al.. Well-defined in-textile photolithography towards permeable textile electronics. Nat Commun, 2024, 15: 887

[51] Veske P, Bossuyt F, Vanfleteren J. Testing for wearability and reliability of TPU lamination method in e-textiles. Sensors, 2021, 22 156

[52] Komolafe A, Torah R, Wei Y, Nunes-Matos H, Li M, Hardy D, et al.. Integrating flexible filament circuits for e-textile applications. Adv Mater Technol, 2019, 4 1900176

[53] Dulal M, Afroj S, Ahn J, Cho Y, Carr C, Kim I-D, et al.. Toward sustainable wearable electronic textiles. ACS Nano, 2022, 16: 19755

[54] Islam T, Repon MdR, Salma UK, Haji A, Hosen MI, Rahman M, et al.. A roadmap study of wearable electronic textile materials: a comprehensive review. Adv Compos Hybrid Mater, 2025, 8 431

[55] Rotzler S, von Krshiwoblozki M, Kallmayer C, Schneider-Ramelow M. Washability of e-textiles: washing behavior of textile integrated circuits depending on textile substrate, circuit material and integration method. Adv Funct Mater, 2025, 35 2417344

[56] Gopalakrishnan S, Sedaghat S, Krishnakumar A, He Z, Wang H, Rahimi R. Wireless humidity sensor for smart packaging via one-step laser-induced patterning and nanoparticle formation on metallized paper. Adv Electron Mater, 2022, 8: 2101149

[57] Gaubert V, Boddaert X, Djenizian T, Delattre R. Textile electronic circuits from laser-patterned conductive fabric. Adv Eng Mater, 2023, 25 2201548

[58] Sedaghat S, Nejati S, Bermejo LH, He Z, Alcaraz AM, Roth A, et al.. Laser-induced atmospheric Cu_xO formation on copper surface with enhanced electrochemical performance for non-enzymatic glucose sensing. J Mater Chem C, 2021, 9: 14997

[59] Sedaghat S, Piepenburg CR, Zareei A, Qi Z, Peana S, Wang H, et al.. Laser-induced mesoporous nickel oxide as a highly sensitive nonenzymatic glucose sensor. ACS Appl Nano Mater, 2020, 3: 5260

[60] Zoghi M, Dehkordi AJ. CW CO2 laser cutting of multiple-layer blended fabric. Optik, 2023, 287 171168

[61] Tian J, Mao L, Cao H, Li L, Xiong W, Zhou Z, et al.. High-performance metallized fabric-based flexible conductive patterns and thermal interface materials. Chem Eng J, 2025, 523 168980

[62] Fu J, Liu C, Zhao R, Wang H, Yu Z, Wang Q. Laser cutting of non-woven fabric using UV nanosecond pulsed laser. Micromachines, 2024, 15 1390

[63] Gopalakrishnan S, Rana MM, Curry MA, Krishnakumar A, Rahimi R. Sticker-type remote monitoring system for early risk detection of catheter associated urinary tract infections. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng, 2024, 71: 2070

[64] Rahimi R, Ochoa M, Ziaie B. Comparison of direct and indirect laser ablation of metallized paper for inexpensive paper-based sensors. ACS Appl Mater Interfaces, 2018, 10: 36332

[65] Gopalakrishnan S, Nejati S, Sedaghat S, Gupta K, Mishra RK, Rahimi R. Electronic-free and low-cost wireless sensor tag for monitoring fish freshness. Sens Actuators B Chem, 2023, 381 133398

[66] Khan MZ, Taghavian H, Zhang X, Militky J, Ali A, Wiener J, et al.. Highly stable, flexible, anticorrosive coating of metalized nonwoven textiles for durable EMI shielding and thermal properties. ACS Omega, 2025, 10: 8127

[67] Uzun S, Seyedin S, Stoltzfus AL, Levitt AS, Alhabeb M, Anayee M, et al.. Knittable and washable multifunctional MXene-coated cellulose yarns. Adv Funct Mater, 2019, 29 1905015

[68] Stoppa M, Chiolerio A. Wearable electronics and smart textiles: a critical review. Sensors, 2014, 14: 11957

[69] Xiao Y, Li Q, Zhang C, Zhang W, Yun W, Yang L. Fabrication of silver electrical circuits on textile substrates by reactive inkjet printing. IEEE Sens J, 2022, 22: 11056

[70] Saquib M, Shetty S, M L, Rathod A, Naik K, Nayak R, et al.. Challenges in carbon ink formulation and strategies for fabrication of flexible supercapacitors. Carbon Trends, 2025, 19 100458

[71] Paul G, Torah R, Yang K, Beeby S, Tudor J. An investigation into the durability of screen-printed conductive tracks on textiles. Meas Sci Technol, 2014, 25 025006

[72] Yong S, Liu M, Komolafe A, Tudor J, Yang K. Development of a screen-printable carbon paste to achieve washable conductive textiles. Textiles, 2021, 1: 419

[73] Peng J, Cheng H, Liu J, Han W, Wu T, Yin Y, et al.. Superhydrophobic MXene-based fabric with electromagnetic interference shielding and thermal management ability for flexible sensors. Adv Fiber Mater, 2023, 5: 2099

[74] Chen W, Cai M, Wu J, Ma H, Liu W, Xu F. Highly conductive, durable, washable, and scalable composite yarn for multifunctional wearable electronic applications. Compos Sci Technol, 2023, 241 110115

[75] Ismar E, Tao X, Rault F, Dassonville F, Cochrane C. Towards embroidered circuit board from conductive yarns for e-textiles. IEEE Access, 2020, 8: 155329

[76] Ma X, Wang P, Huang L, Ding R, Zhou K, Shi Y, et al.. A monolithically integrated in-textile wristband for wireless epidermal biosensing. Sci Adv, 2023, 9 eadj2763

[77] Smits FM. Measurement of sheet resistivities with the four-point probe. Bell Syst Tech J, 1958, 37: 711

Funding

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases(IR21DK128715-01A1)

National Institute of Food and Agriculture(13699514)

Wabash Heartland Innovation Network (WHIN)

Scalable Manufacturing Aware and Responsive Thin Films (SMART)

Rights & permissions

The Author(s)

Just Accepted

This article has successfully passed peer review and final editorial review, and will soon enter typesetting, proofreading and other publishing processes. The currently displayed version is the accepted final manuscript. The officially published version will be updated with format, DOI and citation information upon launch. We recommend that you pay attention to subsequent journal notifications and preferentially cite the officially published version. Thank you for your support and cooperation.