Smart Textiles

20th Jun 2022

Electronically conductive fibres are already in use in smart textiles, but in a recently published research ionically conductive fibres have proven to be of increasing interest. The ionofibres achieve higher flexibility, durability and match the type of conduction body uses. In future, they may be used for items like textile batteries, displays and...

9th Jun 2022

A Nanyang Technical University Singapore team has developed a stretchable, waterproof fabric that turns energy generated from body movements into electrical energy. A crucial component in the fabric is a polymer that, when pressed or squeezed, converts mechanical stress into electrical energy. Washing, folding and crumpling does not degrade its...

10th May 2022

Canadian researchers have woven ‘threads’ of Wi-Fi into fabric as a way of pushing boundaries to further understand how technology impacts lives. A textile Wi-Fi antenna has been created by weaving a conductive material directly into a tapestry fabric. It was conceived as a way to understand human relationship with home routers and the Internet.

25th Apr 2022

Researchers from Loughborough University in the UK and the University of Moratuwa in Sri Lanka have developed a scalable manufacturing technique to create wearable fabrics embedded with very small power generators known as ‘triboelectric nanogenerators’. The techniquecan turn common textile materials into energy-generating textiles using established...

20th Apr 2022

Canada’s Centennial College and its partners have received $4 million in multi-year funding from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to develop products for the global e-textile market, as well as to assist small and medium-sized enterprises in the transportation, food production, energy and advanced manufacturing sectors.

19th Apr 2022

Engineers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and collaborators at Rhode Island School of Design have designed a fabric that works like a microphone, converting sound first into mechanical vibrations, then into electrical signals. Inspired by the human ear, a new acoustic fabric converts audible sounds into electrical signals.

13th Apr 2022

A group of companies in the Italian textile industry, headed by RadiciGroup, has created a spacesuit for analogue simulation which is designed and engineered in Italy for SMO Mars mission. It was promoted and organised by Mars Planet, the Italian chapter of the Mars Society headquartered in Bergamo, under the patronage of the Italian Space Agency.

13th Apr 2022

In a new study, researchers from the North Carolina (NC) State University have found a way to prevent electrical malfunctions in yarns designed to store electrical energy. Ultimately, the findings could help advance the development of “smart textiles” that would capture energy from the wearer’s movements and power sensors and wearable electronics.

1st Apr 2022

Validating its vision to extend the utility of apparel beyond clothing, US’ Integrated Tactical Technologies (iT2) has announced that the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) of the Department of Defense (DoD) awarded the company a multi-phase contract worth up to $19.4 million to develop a wearable two-way communication solution to enable the ‘Wireless...