2023-12-12 11:44:47
A microscopic image of the newly developed fibers showing their blend side by side, where one side is cotton and the other contains the polymer polyanaline that can carry an electrical current. – WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY
MADRID, 12 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
A single strand of fiber developed at Washington State University (WSU) has the flexibility of cotton and the electrical conductivity of a polymer, called polyaniline.
The newly developed material showed a good potential for wearable electronic textiles. The WSU researchers tested the fibers with a system that powered an LED light and another that detected ammonia gas, detailing their findings in the journal Carbohydrate Polymers.
“We have a fiber in two sections: one section is conventional cotton – flexible and strong enough for everyday use, and the other side is the conductive material,” he said. it’s a statement Hang Liu, WSU textile researcher and corresponding author of the study. “Cotton can support the conductive material that can provide the necessary function.”
While more development is needed, The idea is to integrate fibers like these into clothing as sensor patches with flexible circuits. These patches could be part of the uniforms of firefighters, soldiers, or chemical workers to detect dangerous exposures. Other applications include health tracking or exercise shirts that can do more than current fitness trackers.
“We have some smart wearable devices, such as smart watches, that can track your movement and human vital signs, but we hope that in the future your everyday clothing can also perform these functions,” Liu said. “Fashion is not just color and style, as many people think: fashion is science.”
In this study, the WSU team worked to overcome the challenges of mixing the conductive polymer with cotton cellulose. Polymers are substances with very large molecules that have repeating patterns. In this case, the researchers used polyaniline, also known as PANI, a synthetic polymer with conductive properties that is already used in applications such as the manufacture of printed circuit boards.
Although it is intrinsically conductive, Polyaniline is brittle and cannot be made into a fiber for textiles on its own.. To solve this, the WSU researchers dissolved cotton cellulose from recycled T-shirts in one solution and the conductive polymer in another separate solution. These two solutions were then fused side by side and the material was extruded to form a fiber.
The result showed good interfacial bonding, meaning that the molecules of the different materials would stay together when stretched and bent.
Achieving the right blend at the interface of cotton cellulose and polyaniline was a delicate balanceLiu said.
“We wanted these two solutions to work so that when the cotton and the conductive polymer came into contact with each other, they would mix to some extent to form a kind of glue, but we didn’t want them to mix too much, otherwise the conductivity would be reduced. “, said.
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