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Flexible conductive circuits on PET fabrics were fabricated by a simple approach. Firstly, well dispersed nano-silver colloids with average size of 87 nm were synthesized with poly (vinyl pyrrolidone). Then, by adding polyurethane and thickening agent into these colloids, Ag NP-based ink was produced and printed on PET fabrics by screen printing. Conductive patterns were achieved through the swelling process of polyurethane and the decrease of contact resistance between nano-silver particles when immersed in dichloromethane (DCM) and diallyldimethylammonium chloride (DMDAAC) mixed solution. After it was dried at 40 °C,the surface resistivity was about 0.197 Ω cm with width 1.9 mm, and thickness 20 μm. Moreover, the effects of different DCM contents on the conductivity and the film forming ability have been investigated. We believe these foundings will provide some important analysis for printing flexible conductive circuits on textiles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Electroless plating Pd-activated nanofibrous membranes. • The electrodes with a nylon network are assembled into a sensitive pressure sensor. • The capacitive pressure sensor is suitable for practical human motions' detection. The flexible and wearable capacitive pressure sensors are widely used in healthcare monitoring, robotics manufacture and military equipment. These types of highly sensitive pressure sensors can be realized by designing micro-structure electrodes or dielectric layers on a wearable smart device. Herein, we prepare a flexible and conductive electrode through electrospinning of palladium ions (Pd2+)/polyacrylonitrile (PAN) solution and followed by electroless plating of the hybrid nanofibrous membranes. The FESEM images showed that the obtained conductive nanofibrous membrane was covered by a coral-like silver layer with porosity benefiting for excellent electrical conductivity. Based on the superior performance, it is used as the electrodes and jointly assembled into a full microporous structure sensor with the high-mesh nylon netting. Benefitting from the dramatically alterable contact area of the electrode and the good dielectricity of nylon netting, the as-prepared sensor exhibits a high sensitivity of 1.49 kPa−1, a fast response time of 48 ms, low hysteresis of 7.55% and stable durability over 1000 cycles. Besides, practical human motions' detection is carried out by this wearable pressure sensor. The simulation of the finite elemental analysis is used to explain the mechanism of the sensor. This fabrication method is facile, low-cost, and less metal pollution, which may provide an insight to design microstructures for improving the performance, and imply an accessible prospect in the industrialization of sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]