When woven into clothes, piezoelectric fibres will transform mechanical energy into electric energy every time a person moves.
Credit: Katharina Maisenbacher, Max Planck Institute
Scientists have found a way to generate electricity from nylon, raising hopes that the clothes on our backs will become an important source of energy.
Researchers have found a way to produce nylon fibres that are smart enough to produce electricity from simple body movement, paving the way for smart clothes that will monitor our health through miniaturised sensors and charge our devices without any external power source.
This discovery – a collaboration between the University of Bath, the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Germany and the University of Coimbra in Portugal – is based on breakthrough work on solution-processed piezoelectric nylons led by Professor Kamal Asadi from the Department of Physics at Bath and his former PhD student Saleem Anwar.
Piezoelectricity describes the phenomenon where mechanical energy is transformed into electric energy. To put it simply, when you tap on or distort a piezoelectric material, it generates a charge. Add a circuit and the charge can be taken away, stored in a capacitor for instance and then put to use – for example, to power your mobile phone.
While wearing piezoelectric clothing, such as a shirt, even a simple movement like swinging your arms would cause sufficient distortions in the shirt’s fibres to generate electricity.
Professor Asadi said: “There’s growing demand for smart, electronic textiles, but finding cheap and readily available fibres of electronic materials that are suitable for modern-day garments is a challenge for the textile industry.
“Piezoelectric materials make good candidates for energy harvesting from mechanical vibrations, such as body motion, but most of these materials are ceramic and contain lead, which is toxic and makes their integration in wearable electronics or clothes challenging.”
Scientists have been aware of the piezoelectric properties of nylon since the 1980s, and the fact that this material is lead-free and non-toxic has made it particularly appealing. However, the silky, man-made fabric often associated with cheap T-shirts and women’s stockings is “a very difficult material to handle”, according to Professor Asadi.
“The challenge is to prepare nylon fibres that retain their piezoelectric properties,” he said.
In its raw polymer form, nylon is a white powder that can be blended with other materials (natural or man-made) and then moulded into myriad products, from clothes and toothbrush bristles to food packaging and car parts. It’s when nylon is reduced to a particular crystal form that it becomes piezoelectric. The established method for creating these nylon crystals is to melt, rapidly cool and then stretch the nylon. However this process results in thick slabs (known as ‘films’) that are piezoelectric but not suited to clothing. The nylon would need to be stretched to a thread to be of woven into garments, or to a thin film to be used in wearable electronics.
The challenge of producing thin piezoelectric nylon films was thought to be insurmountable, and initial enthusiasm for creating piezoelectric nylon garments turned to apathy, resulting in research in this area virtually grinding to a halt in the 1990s.
On a whim, Professor Asadi and Mr Anwar – a textile engineering– took a completely new approach to producing piezoelectric nylon thin films. They dissolved the nylon powder in an acid solvent rather than by melting it. However, they found that the finished film contained solvent molecules that were locked inside the materials, thereby preventing formation of the piezoelectric phase.
“We needed to find a way to remove the acid to make the nylon useable,” said Professor Asadi, who started this research at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Germany before moving to Bath in September.
By chance, the pair discovered that by mixing the acid solution with the acetone (a chemical best known as a paint thinner or nail varnish remover), they were able to dissolve the nylon and then extract the acid efficiently, leaving the nylon film in a piezoelectric phase.
“The acetone bonds very strongly to the acid molecules, so when the acetone is evaporated from nylon solution, it takes the acid with it. What you’re left with is nylon in its piezoelectric crystalline phase. The next step is to turn nylon into yarns and then integrate it into fabrics.”
Developing piezoelectric fibres is a major step towards being able to produce electronic textiles with clear applications in the field of wearable electronics. The goal is to integrate electronic elements, such as sensors, in a fabric, and to generate power while we’re on the move. Most likely, the electricity harvested from the fibres of piezoelectric clothing would be stored in a battery nestled in a pocket. This battery would then connect to a device either via a cable or wirelessly.
“In years to come, we could be using our T-shirts to power a device such as our mobile phone as we walk in the woods, or for monitoring our health,” said Professor Asadi.
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Electricity from nylon
- Billy Joel turns 75: His 75 best songs, definitively ranked
In honor of Billy Joel's 75th birthday, we've definitively ranked his best songs, from "Allentown" to "Zanzibar." Yes, "Piano Man" is in there, too.
- Greening plastics will require more from industry, BASF CEO says
At a keynote speech at the NPE2024 trade show, the head of BASF in North America urges companies, governments and nongovernmental organizations to join forces to "rethink plastics." ...
- This Kelly Clarkson-Approved Anthropologie Dress Is Perfect for Spring and Summer
Kelly Clarkson is a multi-hyphenate talent with great style — we found one of her recent dresses at Anthropologie! Shop it now!
- The Best Grill Brushes and Grill Tools of 2024 to Master Any Flame
Unlike steel bristles, these nylon ones won’t damage your grates or ... t use wire bristles and is made using highly heat-resistant materials. Using the power of steam to clean your grill, it features ...
- The 10 Best Nylon OnlyFans
Nylon Sweet loves to tease her way into your ... She might hold all the power, but she’s aching for a bit of punishment from you too. If you don’t spank her right, she just might punish ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Electricity from nylon
[google_news title=”” keyword=”electricity from nylon” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Electronic textiles
- Advanced Composite Materials & Textile Research Lab (ACMTRL)
The Advanced Composite Materials and Textile Research Laboratory (ACMTRL) located on the University of Massachusetts Lowell campus offers your company a resource for research and testing. The ACMTRL ...
- One man’s trash: EU pitch to tackle textile pollution riles second-hand sellers
France, Sweden and Denmark are asking the EU to back their call to change global rules on textile exports under the Basel Convention and thereby tackle the bloc's growing textile pollution problem.
- Tech-savvy stitching as e-textile enthusiasts combine
A group of knitting and crochet enthusiasts have recently explored integrating wearable technology through the ‘Yarning Connections’ project, writes Grace Hanna.
- Textiles help selectively recover gold from e-waste
Researchers at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) have developed a solution that uses textile materials to selectively recover high-purity gold from electrical and electronic waste ...
- E-Textile Market Size to Grow USD 5238.3 Million by 2029 at a CAGR of 8% | Valuates Reports
BANGALORE, India, April 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- E-Textile Market is Segmented by Type (Passive Electronic Textiles, Active Electronic Textiles, Ultra-Electronic Textiles), by Application ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Electronic textiles
[google_news title=”” keyword=”electronic textiles” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]