Experimental analysis of fabric substrate on a moisture sensor

In this work, an embroidered textile moisture sensor is proposed and characterized with three different fabric substrates. The sensors are based on a capacitive interdigitated structure embroidered on a textile substrate with a conductive yarn. The performance of three different type of substrates has been addressed. In order to evaluate the sensor behavior, the impedance of the sensor has been measured by means of an LCR meter from 20 Hz to 200 kHz on a climatic chamber with a sweep of the relative humidity from 30% to 80% at 20ºC. The results show that the fabric substrate defines the electrical properties of the sensor due to both, the substrate permittivity and size yarn thickness increase. This sensor dependence determines the optimum substrate to be used to develop wearable applications for moisture measurement.
Postprint (author's final draft)