Ewa Korzeniewska

Ammonia gas sensors ink-jet printed on textile substrates

This work describes the fabrication of ammonia gas sensors on textile substrates by using the reactive inkjet printing for the deposition the polyaniline gas sensing layers. These layers were printed over vacuum deposited gold electrodes designed for the purposes of sensor conductivity analysis. The sensing properties such as sensing linearity, response and recovery times were studied in the range of ammonia gas concentrations from 15 to 100 ppm. The fabricated sensors showed a relevant increase in relative resistance from 0.30 to 14.4 times after exposing to ammonia gas at the concentrations of 15–100 ppm for 120 sec.

Laser-Textured Rubbers with Carbon Nanotube Fillers

This paper describes a method of laser ablation for improving the hydrophobic properties of vulcanized rubber. The treatment was tested on acrylonitrile rubber (NBR) and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) containing carbon nanotubes and soot as fillers. The surface layer of the vulcanizates was modified using a nanosecond-pulsed laser at 1060 nm wavelength. The parameters of the ablation process were congruent, so no chemical changes in the polymeric material were observed. Evaluation of the surface condition of the laser-textured samples was performed using a Leica MZ6 stereoscopic microscope, operating with MultiScan 8.0 image analysis software. The contact angles were determined for all the samples before and after the surface modification process. Following modification of the surface morphology, with the best parameters of laser ablation, the contact angle increased, reaching 147°, which is very close to the threshold of superhydrophobicity (150°). On the basis of the results from several tests, laser ablation with a fiber-pulsed laser can be considered a very useful method for producing rubbers with superhydrophobic surfaces.

Extraction of the Polyurethane Layer in Textile Composites for Textronics Applications Using Optical Coherence Tomography

This article presents a new method for the extraction and measurement of the polyurethane layer of Cordura textile composites using optical coherence tomography. The knowledge of coating layer properties in these composites is very important, as it affects mechanical parameters such as stiffness and bending rigidity. Unlike microscopic measurements, which require cross-section samples of the material, the proposed approach is non-invasive. The method is based on detecting the top and bottom boundaries of the polyurethane layer in Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) images using image processing methods, namely edge enhancement filtering, thresholding and spline smoothing. The cover layer measurement results obtained from a three-dimensional OCT image of the composite fabric are presented as the thickness maps. The average values of the layer thicknesses measured with the OCT method for four types of Cordura showed a high correlation with the results obtained from microscopic measurements (Pearson correlation coefficient r=0.9844), which confirms the accuracy of the OCT method.

Temperature distribution around thin electroconductive layers created on composite textile substrates

Abstract In this paper, the authors describe the distribution of temperatures around electroconductive pathways created by a physical vacuum deposition process on flexible textile substrates used in elastic electronics and textronics. Cordura material was chosen as the substrate. Silver with 99.99% purity was used as the deposited metal. This research was based on thermographic photographs of the produced samples. Analysis of the temperature field around the electroconductive layer was carried out using Image ThermaBase EU software. The analysis of the temperature distribution highlights the software’s usefulness in determining the homogeneity of the created metal layer. Higher local temperatures and non-uniform distributions at the same time can negatively influence the work of the textronic system.

Elements of elastic electronics created on textile substrate

The most well-known method for producing conductive elements for flexible electronics is to print the paths of electronic circuits directly onto polymer materials. The authors of the paper propose an alternative solution for creation of conductive elements such as using PVD vacuum deposition technology and laser shaping. The resistors and conductors obtained in this way have good electrical and mechanical properties. In the paper the results of the possibility of achieving thin-film structures of a small width by using laser ablation of the vaporized metal layer are also presented.

Life and discoveries of Michael Faraday (to commerate 150 th anniversary of his death)

This paper aims at showing the short biography and sketch of discoveries of Michael Faraday to commemorate the 150th anniversary of his death.

Surface heat sources on textile composites — Modeling and implementation

In the paper the authors describe the research on thin-film surface heat sources created on flexible textile substrate. The novelty of research is included in using two technologies: physical vapour deposition and laser ablation. Two structures in form of meander and clover were implemented in Comsol Multihysics package to laser ablation optimization and to modeling of structure heating. Experiments fully confirmed the results of modeling.

New magnetotherapeutical devices experimental and simulation results

In the paper both conventional and new approach to magnetotherapy are discussed. The stimulation by electromagnetic field (magnetic component) is realized by the coils which generate electromagnetic field of dfferent geometry. New approach allows therapists to realize more precised therapy. New applicators have been designed and mastered and their performance is presented in computer simulation and experiments.

Analysis of the temperature field around the thin electroconductive layers formed on the substrates

In the paper authors proposed an analysis of the distribution of temperatures around electroconductive pathways createded on flexible textile substrates used in elastic electronics and also in textronics. The research was based on the thermographic photographs of the produced samples. The analysis was carried out using the Image ThermaBase EU software.

Analysis of thermographic images of thin metal layers using grouping algorithms

In this paper the authors attempt to perform the analysis of the thermographic images of thin metal layers obtained in PVD (physical vapor deposition) process as the part of the working textronic system. The authors also briefly characterize algorithms applied in data classification: algorithm k medium, COBWEB algorithm and the grouping algorithm. The identification of defects of thin film structures using image recognition algorithms are presented. Streszczenie. W artykule autorzy dokonują analizy obrazów termograficznych cienkich warstw metalicznych wykonanych w procesie PVD (physical vapor deposition) jako części roboczej systemu tekstronicznego. Scharakteryzowano również krótko algorytmy zastosowane przy klasyfikacji danych: algorytm k średnich, algorytm COBWEB oraz algorytm grupujący. Wykorzystując zaprezentowane algorytmy rozpoznawania obrazów dokonano identyfikacji defektów struktur cienkowarstwowych. (Analiza obrazu termograficznego cienkich warstw metalicznych przy użyciu algorytmów grupujących) Słowa kluczowe: rezystancja warstw cienkich, algorytm k-średnich, algorytm COBWEB, algorytm grupujący.