Tekstil Teknik Dergisi Tekstil Haberleri, Tekstil Sektörü, Tekstil Teknik
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The growing smart fabrics industry has diverse applications in wearable devices for the consumer, health care and defence sectors – from monitoring vital signs of patients, to tracking the location and health status of soldiers in the field, and monitoring pilots or drivers for fatigue. And thanks to the technology integrated within them, they are the wave of the future for textile design.
Recently, a team from RMIT University in Australia have have, with the help of laser printing technology, developed a cost-efficient and scaleable method for rapidly fabricating textiles that are embedded with energy storage devices. The technology enables graphene supercapacitors – powerful and long-lasting energy storage devices that are easily combined with solar or other sources of power – to be laser printed directly onto textiles, the scientists explain. In just three minutes, the method can produce a 10x10cm smart textile patch that’s waterproof, stretchable and readily integrated with energy harvesting technologies.
Current approaches to smart textile energy storage, like stitching batteries into garments or using e-fibers, may be cumbersome and heavy, and can also have capacity issues. Moreover, the electronic components also may be in danger of short circuiting or failing when they come in contact with sweat or moisture from the environment if the textile isn’t waterproof. The invention, however, appears to be an alternative method to the currents approaches for developing smart textiles.
“By solving the energy storage-related challenges of e-textiles, we hope to power the next generation of wearable technology and intelligent clothing,” said the scientists in a press statement.
