Recent advancements in textile-based flexible electronics: a comprehensive review

Abstract

Flexible electronic textiles (e-textiles) have emerged as a key class of wearable systems by integrating electronic functionality with the intrinsic advantages of textile materials, such as breathability, flexibility, lightweight nature, and conformability to complex surfaces. However, the effective integration of diverse textile manufacturing technologies with advanced electronic components remains a critical challenge. This review systematically discusses in detail the formation methods of fibers, yarns, and fabrics in relation to their specific structures, followed by a comprehensive overview of the advancements of e-textile fabrication techniques, emphasizing on representative examples across different scales of textile-based electronic architectures. Furthermore, key applications of e-textiles in sensing, energy harvesting and storage, actuation, and human–machine interfaces are reviewed. Finally, current challenges and future perspectives for fabricating flexible e-textiles are discussed, aiming to provide insights and guidance for the rational design of next-generation wearable electronic systems.