April 14th 2022 – By Promostyl
Textile has a source of electricity
What if we could generate electricity just by getting dressed in the morning? This challenge now seems possible. Indeed, researchers have found a way to produce nylon fibers smart enough to produce electricity from simple bodily movements, based on the revolutionary work on piezo nylons. Piezoelectricity describes the phenomenon where mechanical energy is transformed into electrical energy. So even a simple movement like swinging the arms would cause enough distortions in the fibers of the shirt to generate electricity. Initiated in the 1990s, research had been stopped because of the difficulty of producing thin films of piezoelectric nylon for the creation of clothing. But recently researchers here have taken a completely new approach to producing thin films of piezoelectric nylon.
They dissolved the initial nylon powder in an acidic solvent rather than melting it. They discovered that by mixing the acid solution with acetone, they were able to dissolve the nylon and then effectively extract the acid, leaving the nylon film in a piezoelectric phase. The next step is to process the nylon into yarns and then embed it into fabrics. The electricity harvested from the fibers of the piezoelectric garments would be stored in a battery tucked away in a pocket. This technology could allow the garment to have medical properties. Indeed we could use a blouse in pregnant women or to monitor the heart rate. This successfully tested idea takes the name stethoscope textile and would still be as resistant after ten cycles of washing in the washing machine.
