KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Conductive Cotton Fiber: Washington State University develops a single fiber with the flexibility of cotton and the electric conductivity of polyaniline, offering potential for wearable e-textiles.
- Functionality Testing: Researchers successfully power an LED light and sense ammonia gas using the developed fibers, showcasing the material’s versatility and functionality for various applications.
- Dual-Section Fiber Design: The fiber combines a conventional cotton section, suitable for everyday use, with a conductive material section, enabling it to support both flexibility and essential functions, making it ideal for wearable technology.
- Wearable Sensor Patches: The material aims to be integrated into apparel as sensor patches with flexible circuits, with potential applications in uniforms for firefighters, soldiers, or workers exposed to chemicals for detecting hazardous exposures.
- Health Monitoring and Smart Clothing: The envisioned applications extend beyond traditional wearables, envisioning everyday clothing with embedded functionalities for health monitoring and exercise tracking, moving beyond current fitness monitors.
- Innovative Material Synthesis: Overcoming challenges of mixing conductive polymer with cotton cellulose, researchers achieved good interfacial bonding, ensuring the right balance between the materials for optimal conductivity without sacrificing flexibility.
Researchers at Washington State University (WSU) have successfully created a single strand of fiber that combines the flexibility of cotton with the electric conductivity of a polymer known as polyaniline.
Promising Future for Wearable E-Textiles
This innovative material holds immense promise for the field of wearable e-textiles. The WSU team conducted extensive tests, demonstrating the fiber’s capabilities in powering an LED light and detecting ammonia gas. Their findings, detailed in the journal Carbohydrate Polymers, underscore the potential applications of this cutting-edge material.
Hang Liu, a textile researcher at WSU and the study’s corresponding author, explained, “We have one fiber in two sections: one section is the conventional cotton, flexible and strong enough for everyday use, and the other side is the conductive material. The cotton can support the conductive material which can provide the needed function.”
While further development is required, the envisaged application involves integrating these fibers into clothing as sensor patches with flexible circuits. These patches could find utility in uniforms for firefighters, soldiers, or workers handling chemicals, serving as detectors for hazardous exposures. Additionally, applications extend to health monitoring and exercise shirts that surpass the capabilities of current fitness monitors.
Liu emphasized the broader implications, stating, “We have some smart wearables, like smart watches, that can track your movement and human vital signs, but we hope that in the future, your everyday clothing can do these functions as well. Fashion is not just color and style, as a lot of people think about it: fashion is science.”
The WSU research team faced challenges in blending the conductive polymer with cotton cellulose. Overcoming this hurdle involved using polyaniline (PANI), a synthetic polymer with conductive properties commonly used in applications such as printed circuit board manufacturing.
Tackling Textile Challenges with Interfacial Bonding
Polyaniline, while intrinsically conductive, posed a challenge due to its brittleness, rendering it unsuitable for textile fibers. To address this, the researchers dissolved cotton cellulose from recycled t-shirts into one solution and the conductive polymer into another. These solutions were then carefully merged side-by-side, and the resulting material was extruded to form a single fiber.
The success of the project hinged on achieving optimal interfacial bonding between cotton cellulose and polyaniline. Liu explained, “We wanted these two solutions to work so that when the cotton and the conductive polymer contact each other, they mix to a certain degree to kind of glue together, but we didn’t want them to mix too much, otherwise the conductivity would be reduced.”
The study involved collaboration among WSU researchers, including first author Wangcheng Liu, along with Zihui Zhao, Dan Liang, Wei-Hong Zhong, and Jinwen Zhang. Funding for this research was provided by the National Science Foundation and the Walmart Foundation Project, highlighting the significance of this groundbreaking work in advancing the frontier of wearable technology.
Get latest updates on Google News
Source(s): Washington State University
The information above is curated from reliable sources, modified for clarity. Slash Insider is not responsible for its completeness or accuracy. Please refer to the original source for the full article. Views expressed are solely those of the original authors and not necessarily of Slash Insider. We strive to deliver reliable articles but encourage readers to verify details independently.
