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New 'electronic textiles' can change future of apparel, display

18 Mar '21

2 min read

Pic: Shutterstock

A new kind of flowing smart textile has been created by scientists that could potentially change the future of both displays and clothing. The flexible, breathable and durable textile allows use in a variety of purposes. It can be washed and worn without worrying about it being destroyed or wearing out. But the electronic textile functions like a display.

It can even be integrated with a touch-sensitive keyboard and power supply, both made of fabric, that essentially turn the fabric itself into a computer.

The research was reported in the journal ‘Nature; recently.

The fabric could show an interactive map, or used as a way of sending or receiving voice messages through a smartphone connected over Bluetooth. It is made up of individual illuminated pieces that form out of conductive and glowing fibres that meet at contact points within the fabric.

Even when the textile went thorugh 1,000 cycles of bending, stretching and pressing, most of the units still remained as stable displays, the researchers say. Scientists also put the fabric through 100 cycles of washing an drying, and the fabric kept glowing as before.

Scientists have previously been able to make textiles that are able to perform a range of smart functions, such as sensing or supplying electricity.

But the new fabric represents a breakthrough because it is the first time a textile has been able to include a large and functioning display that both withstands being worn and can be easily integrated into clothing.

The piece of textile made by the researchers is 6 metres long and 25 centimetres wide, and the display is consistent right across as well as being able to last like traditional textiles, the researchers say.

The primary use of this fabric is in healthcare, and allowing people who might otherwise find it difficult to communicate to do so through their clothes. The fabric could be connected to signals from the brain, which could be analysed to understand how a person is feeling and then communicated on the front of their clothes.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)