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
- Jonathan Majors begged accuser to avoid hospital, warning of possible 'investigation,' messages show
The actor Jonathan Majors begged his former girlfriend not to seek medical attention after an incident that left her with a head injury last year, warning she had "no perspective of what could happen" ...
- ACL injuries in men’s and women’s football: So many factors equal so much uncertainty
Dr Kaeding points out that, prior to puberty, the incidence between males and females is the same (a caveat to that being that it is relatively uncommon prior to puberty, with the vast majority of ACL ...
- Toronto police issue warning about snow plow scam
Toronto may have only received a taste of winter weather Thursday morning, but police say fraudsters are already running snow removal scams.
- Manitoba RCMP looking for witnesses in crash that left man with life-threatening injuries
The Manitoba RCMP is looking for witnesses of a Monday morning crash in the RM of Springfield that left one man with life-threatening injuries.
- Quebec says it wants to study health care reform bill for 3 extra days
The Quebec government announced on Wednesday that it is prepared to study its health care reform for three extra days next week. The voluminous Bill 15 would create the Santé Qub ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Early warning system for injury or illness
[google_news title=”” keyword=”early warning system for injury or illness” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Wearable human body temperature sensors
- Implantable Sensors: Monitoring Health from Within the Human Body
In 1625, Santorio of Venice wrote on the importance and methods of measurement of body temperature, and devised a way of recording ... technology and led to the production of more practical wearable ...
- New wearable sensor can monitor glucose, body temp via human sweat
New York, Oct 1 (IANS) A team of researchers has created a novel wearable patch that can detect specific glucose levels in human sweat for three weeks while simultaneously monitoring body temperature ...
- Think Multi-Site Sensors for Continuous Body Temperature Measurement
Wearable technologies of today ... we consider some of the factors that affect the ability to continuously and accurately measure human body temperature using digital sensors. After examining some ...
- Wearable Sensors
The trend of Wearable Sensors encompasses sensors that are worn on or close to the human body with the purpose of tracking body movement or vital functions. Depending on the type of information to be ...
- LMT70: Human Skin Temperature Sensing quesiton
For LMT70 or temperature sensor, customer request if we have any successful case on marketing for human skin sensing on wearable product or not ... applications with it's 0.1C accuracy in the human ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Swearable human body temperature sensors
[google_news title=”” keyword=”wearable human body temperature sensors” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]