Energy-Generating Fabrics Created by Specialists
Technology experts develop groundbreaking energy-generating fabrics that can generate electricity by seizing energy from body movements.
Clothing that can examine our health, communicate information, and produce electricity might soon be accessible to everyone because of a new study performed by scientists at Loughborough University. Dr. Ishara Dharmasena of the School of Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering (MEME), in cooperation with a group of scientists at the University of Moratuwa (Sri Lanka), has produced a new, scalable production method to produce energy-generating fabrics embedded with tiny power generators named ‘Triboelectric Nanogenerators’ (TENGs).
The method outlined in a paper released in ACS Applied Electronic Materials can transform typical fabrics into energy-generating textiles using established techniques such as yarn coating, dip coating, and screen-printing to apply triboelectrically active solutions.
Wearable technology
The wearable TENG-containing textiles are comparable in texture to knitted fabrics used to make sweaters and t-shirts. Unlike your typical shirt, these energy-generating fabrics can generate electricity to operate low-power electronics utilizing the body’s natural movements.
The 4×4 cm light-weight and thin TENG fabric created over 35V using artificial movements that reproduced slow body movements. This energy-generating fabrics technology may power health sensors, environmental sensors, and electronic devices in the future.
How it works
“This technology will be massively beneficial for future smart textile and wearable electronic applications,” Dr. Dharmasena explained. “With this research, we were able to demonstrate that we can use the existing textile materials and common textile manufacturing techniques to produce wearable TENGs with balanced electrical and comfort properties.”
TENG devices gather static charges, and once connected to the human body or clothing, the TENG devices ‘slide’ or ‘vibrate’ with motions to produce an electrical signal through ‘electrostatic induction.’
Specialists have previously sought to utilize TENGs in textiles; however, as they were made from rigid and cumbersome plastic sheets and required costly production methods, previous clothing applications were unsuccessful.
Dr. Dharmasena’s method eliminates these concerns by combining typical fabric materials and carefully engineered TENG device designs.
This energy-generating fabric technology has presented enhanced electricity generation. It satisfies most of the comfort and durability requirements for textile products– a balance that has been challenging to achieve until now.
This study is part of Dr. Dharmasena’s Royal Academy of Engineering-funded project concentrated on developing sensor-containing super-smart fabrics that can be employed for remote health tracking. He and his team are currently considering practical applications of TENG technology. They plan to collaborate with industrial and academic partners in smart textiles, health sensing technologies, nanotechnology, and fabrication.
Read the original article on Innovation News Network.
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