Recently, researchers from Donghua University have successfully developed a new type of smart fiber that integrates wireless energy harvesting, information perception and transmission, and textiles woven from it can realize light-emitting display, touch and other human-computer interaction functions without relying on chips and batteries. This achievement is considered to be expected to change the way people interact with the environment and between people, and has important implications for the development of functional fibers and the application of smart textiles in different fields.
Fibers that generate electricity without being plugged in
At present, smart wearable devices have become a part of daily life and play an important role in health monitoring, telemedicine, human-computer interaction, and other fields. Compared with traditional rigid semiconductor components or flexible thin film devices, electronic textiles woven from smart fibers have better air permeability and softness, but at present, the development of smart fibers is mostly based on the "von Neumann architecture", that is, the development of various electronic fiber functional modules with silicon-based chips as the core of information processing, such as sensing fibers for signal acquisition, power generation fibers for energy supply, etc., and complex multi-module integration will inevitably increase the volume, weight and rigidity of textiles.
In this study, the research team of Donghua University pioneered a new type of smart fiber with a "non-von Neumann architecture", which effectively simplifies the hardware structure of wearable devices and smart textiles and optimizes their wearability. This work realizes the integration of functions such as energy harvesting, information sensing, and signal transmission in a single fiber, and weaves it into smart textiles that do not rely on chips and batteries.
What is the mystery of the fibers that can emit light and generate electricity "without plugging"? In our daily life, electromagnetic fields and electromagnetic waves are everywhere, and these electromagnetic energies scattered in the environment are the wireless driving force of this new type of fiber. And how does this energy "transfer" to the fibers?
The answer is our bodies. The work proposes to take the human body as the carrier of energy interaction, and opens up a convenient energy "channel", and the electromagnetic energy originally dissipated in the atmosphere preferentially enters the circuit composed of fibers, the human body and the earth. After adding a specific functional material, this new fiber will show a "magical scene" of light generation just by touching it.
Advantages of new fibers
According to reports, the new fiber has a three-layer sheath core structure, the core layer is the fiber antenna (silver-plated nylon fiber) that induces the alternating electromagnetic field, the middle layer is the dielectric layer that improves the electromagnetic energy coupling capacity, and the outer layer is the electric field-sensitive light-emitting layer, the cost of raw materials is low, and the processing of fibers and fabrics has mature technology.
Demonstration of touch-sensitive light-emitting fibers and fabrics, wireless game controls
Without the use of chips and batteries, researchers have also realized functions such as fabric display and wireless command transmission through this new fiber. Researchers from the State Key Laboratory of Fiber Material Modification (Donghua University) said that new fibers are expected to be used in daily textiles such as clothing and apparel, when they come into contact with the human body, they can be visualized through luminescence for sensing, interaction and even highlight lighting, and can also produce unique wireless signals for different postures and actions of the human body, and then carry out wireless remote control of electronic products, these new functions may change the way people live intelligently.
Prospects for smart life scenarios
Source: People's Daily Online
Editor: Marlene
Reviewer: Hao Lin