Glimpse Of The Global Smart Textile Market: "Invisibility Cloak"

10 years ago, who could imagine that textiles could coagulate blood from the wound, detect and pmit bioactivity, become a personal area network, manage drugs or generate heat on their own? Now these imaginations have become reality, all of which are attributed to interactive textiles and intelligent textiles.

The global industrial analysis report shows that the global market for smart textiles and interactive textile technology is expected to reach US $1 billion 800 million in 2015, with its main growth in biophysical monitoring solutions and phase change materials.

In addition, seamless integration between electronics and textiles will help electroactive smart textiles expand their scope of application in the future.

Wearable personal LAN

The Physical Optics Corporation (POC) of California, USA, has developed a body compliant electronic vest system designed for soldiers, named WEARNET.

It provides wearers with integrated power and data connectors, GPS devices and smart phones to create a wearable personal LAN.

The company is working with battery manufacturers to create a battery suitable for human body. It needs to add a connector that can provide real-time data and power monitoring, voltage regulation, automatic fault protection and energy harvesting.

Dr. Gans, director of systems engineering at Physical Optics Corporation, said: "some customers are looking for a technology that can directly integrate monitoring functions into clothing itself.

The company is developing fabrics with special coatings, which can seal gunshot wounds and prevent injured people from dying due to excessive blood loss, so as to achieve the purpose of medical monitoring.

Noninvasive health monitoring is an evolving field, not just in hospitals, but also in sports grounds.

For example, many soccer players and coaches want to be able to detect the effect of their heart rate on the pitch.

Engineers at University of Illinois campus have developed an ultra thin skin mounted electronic patch, powered by solar cells or wireless coils, to monitor physiological status.

Electronic components consist of pistors, diodes and other semiconductors.

Professor John, Department of materials science and engineering, University of Illinois, said: "this product is different from other intelligent textile technology. It is more durable than traditional electrodes.

It is elastic and soft, like skin, so it feels comfortable to wear it.

This is a new method to detect the human body, and it is possible to achieve therapeutic effect in the future. "

In addition to collecting biomedical data, such as electrical signals produced by the heart, electronic skin can also help patients understand their muscle or nervous system diseases through computer interfaces.

It can identify simple dialogues and distinguish signals of muscle movements on a computer.

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Making "superficial" of textiles

David Okeeffe, head of AFT, Texas, is very optimistic about the development of smart textiles.

He said, "this technology can do many things, but it needs to find suitable companies to help them produce prototypes and push them to the market."

The advanced textile technology Co., Ltd. called HAY, a spiral auxetic yarn, which can be used to reduce explosives and anti missiles.

This technology allows auxetic material yarns to stretch at low strain rates, absorbing more energy than similar textiles, such as aramid fibers that cannot be moved and stretched.

Adding sensors or nanotubes to textiles can make them "intelligent" and increase their ability to absorb and move. This smart textile can provide feedback for medical or industrial applications.

The company is also developing a fluid release system that releases drugs, such as coagulants that can stop bleeding.

"If the bandage is added to the fluid release system, if the bandage is able to determine the amount of bacteria and self-administered drugs that the patient has passed through the sensor, it will become an intelligent bandage.

You can put this system into any other type of thing, such as running shoes, bandages, suits.

Okeefe said.

Advanced Textile Technology Co., Ltd. has established a cooperative relationship with the Dezhou Polytechnic University, and tested and studied auxetic yarns in different forms.

Okeefe said: "the use of auxetic materials will not be limited to a specific pattern. It gives us the opportunity to explore all kinds of weaving and knitting.

It is not only widely used in military affairs, but also potential in civil subjects.

The conductive polymer coatings introduced by Eeonyx, California, can be used for fabrics, blankets, foam, powder, plastic, and even adjustable resistors.

The products are mainly used in military and commercial applications, such as resistance heaters for warming blankets, all-weather boots and ice removal for aircraft wings, ESD protection for clothing Cleanrooms and electronic products, wave absorbing fabrics and antennas, biomedical, sports, military and automotive dynamic pressure sensors.

Environmental value and cost effectiveness

Researchers at North Carolina State University have been studying the formation of functional inorganic coatings on textiles using a process called atomic layer deposition.

Today, this functional inorganic coating has been applied to new electronic equipment to protect textiles from ultraviolet radiation and chemicals.

The purpose of the research is to find new applications of textiles, extend the life of textiles, and make full use of textiles. In essence, this technology that can reduce costs is incompatible with existing technologies.

Researchers are studying textile materials incorporating pparent conductive and semiconducting inorganic coatings, such as non-woven fabrics, nylon, polypropylene and cotton woven fabrics. The results show that textiles with flexibility and high surface electronic induction have great advantages.

"Blocking the ultraviolet light absorbed on the surface of textiles to prolong their lives is beneficial, especially for green materials, such as cotton or recycled polyester, which are damaged more quickly under ultraviolet irradiation.

If you can make a surface modification to improve the UV resistance of the material, you can not only extend its service life, but also reduce the cost of outdoor textiles such as awnings and even reduce the carbon footprint of the entire material.

Dr Jesse said, "this technology can also be applied to protective clothing or other things."