Materials

For more documentation of conductive materials, check out How to Get What You Want and eTextile Summer Camp.

TEXTILES

{MORE CONDUCTIVE}

  • Stretchy Conductive Fabric: Silver-plated conductive knit fabric. Stretchy in one direction.
  • Jersey Conductive Fabric: Super soft conductive knit fabric. Stretchy in one direction.
  • Copper Ripstop Fabric: Copper conductive woven fabric. Non-stretchy. Solderable.
  • Silver Ripstop Fabric: Silver-plated conductive woven fabric. Non-stretchy. Solderable.
    • USA: lessEMF (Ripstop Silver Fabric)
    • Europe: Statex (Silver Ripstop Shieldex Bremen)

{MORE RESISTIVE}

  • Velostat: Piezoresistive material – specifically carbon impregnated black polyethylene film. Changes resistance when deformed. Great for pressure/bend sensors. Non-stretchy.
  • Eeonyx: Piezoresistive woven fabric. Stretchy in one or both directions.Great for pressure/bend/stretch sensors. We think this is magic material, but unfortunately it is hard to get your hands on small quantities in the US. We’ll keep this updated regularly if new distributors arise.

TAPES + ADHESIVES

  • Copper Tape: Super conductive with conductive adhesive (if you choose a supplier other than who we list – and we encourage searching! – be sure the adhesive is conductive!)
  • Material Name (w/link): Short description.

CONDUCTIVE INKS

{MORE CONDUCTIVE}

    • CuPro-Cote: Copper conductive water-based paint that is great for painting circuits. Surface resistivity of < 1 Ohm/sq at 1 mil dry film thickness. Helpful High Low Tech tutorial here. Mix with water or lubricant (yes, lubricant) for silk screening.
    • Circuit Scribe: Conductive ink pen (quick drying). Resistance is 0.05-0.2ohms/sq/mil (2-10ohms per cm of writing)
    • Silver Conductive Ink: Conductive ink with surface resistivity of < .025 Ω/square/mil. Great for silk screening. Very, very expensive.
    • AgIC: Silver circuit ink that is very conductive. Must use with their ICPaper (cannot use on any substrate).
      • USA + Europe: AgIC (based in Japan)

{MORE RESISTIVE}

  • Bare Conductive: Water-based, water-soluble that is best for creating sensors (as opposed to traces). 55 Ω/Sq @ 50 microns.
  • Liquid Graphite: Very resistive ink from Guerra in NYC
  • Y-SHIELD: Water-based ink with <10 ohms/sq

SPECIALTY INKS

  • Thermochromic Ink: Short description.
    • USA: Sparkfun, Matsui
    • Europe
  • Inkodye: Short description.
    • USA: Lumi
    • Europe
  • Hydrochromic Ink
    • USA:
    • Europe:
  • Liquid Crystal
    • USA
    • Europe

 


 ELECTRONICS

  • Material Name (w/link): Short description.
  • Material Name (w/link): Short description.

TOOLS

  • Tool Name (w/link): Short description.
  • Tool Name (w/link): Short description.