Research progress in preparation of conductive yarn and its application in smart wearable devices

With the development of electronic information technology and people's pursuit of convenient life, smart flexible wearable devices have attracted the attention of many scholars. In the development of smart wearable devices, flexible conductive materials play a vital role. As the most basic flexible conductive textile material, conductive yarn is widely used in smart wearable products. However, most traditional textile materials are insulating materials and cannot directly form conductive yarns and smart wearable products. The preparation methods and application research progress of metal-based conductive yarns, carbon-based conductive yarns, and conductive polymer-based conductive yarns, as well as the application research progress in wearable strain sensors, wearable supercapacitors, wearable electric heating devices and other aspects were introduced. The problems that need to be solved in the research of conductive yarns in recent years were analyzed, mainly including improving the conductivity, flexibility and environmental stability of conductive yarns. In addition, in view of the convenience, comfort, washing durability, and sensitivity required by smart wearable devices, it was proposed that the sensitivity, durability of flexible conductive yarn and the combination of textile materials and conductive materials have become the main development of wearable flexibles smart product.