Nowadays, textiles are being used throughout several industries as a support for different types of sensors and actuators. Ranging from the automotive industry to personal security applications, medical applications and professional sports use, among others, textiles are being focused as a suitable alternative to traditional supports due to, not only but also, their high flexibility, lower environmental impact and lightweight.
The development of these textile substrates implies a thorough process of design and development that embraces a large part of the textile value chain. It is important to focus not only on the processing steps – dyeing methodologies used, types of finishing applied and optimization of coating formulations – but also on the design of the textile structure – it is crucial to study the different types of yarn arrangement that can be used, and the types of fibers that can be selected. The design of the textile structure, even though is one of the first steps on the textile process, critically influences the characteristics of the final product that can be obtained.
This presentation will focus on different types of applications of textiles for sensors and actuators, its advantages compared with traditional supports – focusing on the different areas of application - and ways to industrialize the production of these sensors/actuators. More precisely, this presentation will spotlight the case of Tintex Textiles. Tintex Textiles is a dyeing, finishing, and coating house based in the north of Portugal that along with its industrial and R&D partners is paving the way on the industrialization of sensors/actuators, aiming to be able to take some of them from the laboratory to the market. Several examples of R&D projects undergoing on the company will be presented, as well as the envisioned future steps that could lead to their commercial application.

Pedro Magalhães, Head of Innovation at Tintex since 2018, embraced Tintex's challenge to coordinate and develop the company's innovation department. In this journey, highlight the numerous partnerships developed with different entities of the national SCT, renowned universities and industrial partners in both the textile and other sectors. These partnerships have culminated in the development of several funded projects, in the area of dyeing, finishing and coating and in the commercialization of innovative products associated with these activities, with applicability in the most diverse areas, starting with fashion and going through the areas of health, sports, military and automobile, among others.
He began his professional career, developing scientific research work after completing his Integrated Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering at FEUP. This work culminated in obtaining a PhD degree in the area of Chemical and Biological Engineering, at this same institution. At an industry level, he started his career in the ID department at Corticeira Amorim.