Computer model of a single-molecule magnet
Researchers are reporting a new material, pliable enough to be woven into fabric but imbued with sensing capabilities that could serve as an early warning system for injury or illness.
The material, described in a paper published by ACS Applied Nano Materials, involves the use of carbon nanotubes and is capable of sensing slight changes in body temperature while maintaining a pliable disordered structure – as opposed to a rigid crystalline structure – making it a good candidate for reusable or disposable wearable human body temperature sensors. Changes in body heat change the electrical resistance, alerting someone monitoring that change to the potential need for intervention.
“Your body can tell you something is wrong before it becomes obvious,” said Seamus Curran, a physics professor at the University of Houston and co-author on the paper. Possible applications range from detecting dehydration in an ultra-marathoner to the beginnings of a pressure sore in a nursing home patient.
The researchers said it is also cost-effective because the raw materials required are used in relatively low concentrations.
The discovery builds on work Curran and fellow researchers Kang-Shyang Liao and Alexander J. Wang began nearly a decade ago, when they developed a hydrophobic nanocoating for cloth, which they envisioned as a protective coating for clothing, carpeting and other fiber-based materials.
Wang is now a Ph.D. student at Technological University Dublin, currently working with Curran at UH, and is corresponding author for the paper. In addition to Curran and Liao, other researchers involved include Surendra Maharjan, Brian P. McElhenny, Ram Neupane, Zhuan Zhu, Shuo Chen, Oomman K. Varghese and Jiming Bao, all of UH; Kourtney D. Wright and Andrew R. Barron of Rice University, and Eoghan P. Dillon of Analysis Instruments in Santa Barbara.
The material, created using poly(octadecyl acrylate)-grafted multiwalled carbon nanotubes, is technically known as a nanocarbon-based disordered, conductive, polymeric nanocomposite, or DCPN, a class of materials increasingly used in materials science. But most DCPN materials are poor electroconductors, making them unsuitable for use in wearable technologies that require the material to detect slight changes in temperature.
The new material was produced using a technique called RAFT-polymerization, Wang said, a critical step that allows the attached polymer to be electronically and phononically coupled with the multiwalled carbon nanotube through covalent bonding. As such, subtle structural arrangements associated with the glass transition temperature of the system are electronically amplified to produce the exceptionally large electronic responses reported in the paper, without the negatives associated with solid-liquid phase transitions. The subtle structural changes associated with glass transition processes are ordinarily too small to produce large enough electronic responses.
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Early warning system for injury or illness
- Sask. COVID-19 sewage study an 'early warning system' for variants, says researcheron February 22, 2021 at 1:59 pm
Saskatoon's wastewater is once again going to be tested for the virus that causes COVID-19. Researchers from the University of Saskatchewan were previously testing the wastewater, but ran out of ...
- Establish warning systemon February 20, 2021 at 7:00 pm
The United States finally seems to be gaining ground on the COVID-19 pandemic, which got a running start because of slow initial response and a long learning curve.
- Estimating the benefits of an early warning system for harmful algal bloomson February 19, 2021 at 2:12 am
High concentrations of some algal species can cause fish and shellfish mortalities through direct exposure. These HABs have economic impacts on the commercial and tribal subsistence shellfish ...
- Develop virus warning systemon February 18, 2021 at 9:02 pm
The United States finally seems to be gaining ground on the COVID-19 pandemic, which got a running start because of slow initial response and a long learning curve.
- Early-warning system a muston February 18, 2021 at 3:44 pm
The United States finally seems to be gaining ground on the COVID-19 pandemic, which got a running start because of slow initial response and a long learning curve.
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Early warning system for injury or illness
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Wearable human body temperature sensors
- New wearable device turns the body into a batteryon February 22, 2021 at 9:15 pm
Researchers at CU Boulder have developed a new, low-cost wearable device that transforms the human body into a biological battery.
- Wearable chemical sensor can measure the concentration of lactate in sweaton February 17, 2021 at 10:37 pm
Wearable sensors fall ... Many such sensors operate by quantifying biomarkers, that is, measurable indicators that reflect one's health condition. Widely used biomarkers are heartrate and body ...
- Wearable microfluidic sensor to measure lactate concentration in real timeon February 16, 2021 at 4:00 pm
With the seemingly unstoppable advancement in the fields of miniaturization and materials science, all sorts of electronic devices have emerged to help us lead easier and healthier lives. Wearable ...
- Wearable sensor can detect stress hormone cortisol in human sweaton February 16, 2021 at 3:02 am
EPFL engineers working with a startup company called Xsensio have developed a new wearable sensing chip that can measure the concentration of a stress hormone called cortisol in human sweat. The ...
- Usability study of wearable inertial sensors for exergames (WISE) for movement assessment and exerciseon February 14, 2021 at 4:00 pm
Recent years have seen a brisk rise in development and deployment of digital health systems using such technologies as wearable sensors and embedded controllers to enhance access to medical ...