Researchers have developed a smell and stain-proof fabric that can also be used to control electronic devices, heralding a new wave of e-textiles.
A team from Purdue University in Indiana found that applying fluorinated molecules to commercially available cotton, spandex and wool fabrics made them both oliophobic (oil-repelling) and conductive.
Embroidering designs on a shirt’s collar with conductive sewing thread coated in the spray created a form of triboelectric nanogenerator, capable of powering wearable devices using energy harvested from human motion.
The embroidered patches, which are breathable, flexible and resistant to washing, allow the wearer to pause and play music tracks simply by pressing down on them.
Sliding a finger up and down the rectangular patch on each collar wing could also be harnessed to increase and lower audio volume, according to the study published in Advanced Functional Materials.
The team is currently exploring how the technology could be embedded into hospital gowns to provide future patients with better care, such as embroidered panic buttons, and has filed a provisional patent application.
Ramses Martinez, an assistant professor in the School of Industrial Engineering, said the invention could enable textile companies to embed flexible circuits into clothing and avoid rigid batteries, allowing them to be easily washed.
“While fashion has evolved significantly during the last centuries and has easily adopted recently developed high-performance materials, there are very few examples of clothes on the market that interact with the user,” he added.
“Having an interface with a machine that we are constantly wearing sounds like the most convenient approach for a seamless communication with machines and the Internet of Things.”
As the fabric is designed to repel water, stains and bacterial growth, it demonstrated “excellent stability” under mechanical stability testing and “remarkable” washing durability under standard machine-washing tested, the group observed.
Source: https://inews.co.uk/