Evaluation Engineering - 34

TECHNOLOGY INSIGHTS

SMART FABRICS GO TO
THE HEAD OF THE CLASS
By Ken Cormier, Managing Editor
Aesthetic- or performance-enhancing, smart fabrics or e-textiles provide added value to the wearer, such as
changing colors, lighting up, or improving
performance in athletics or in military
applications. In athletics, electronic garb
can control muscle vibration, reduce wind
resistance, regulate body temperature,
and more. Such fabrics have digital component embedded with them, such as
sensors, computers, and batteries and
lights, as well as other electronics.
E-textiles could be used to shield the
wearer in extreme environments such as
space travel or high radiation. The health
and beauty industries have entered the
fray with drug-releasing textiles, as well
as fabric that has moisturizing, anti-aging and fragrant properties. Electronic
textiles diverge from wearable computing, as the focus is upon the seamless
integration of textiles with components
such as sensors, microcontrollers, and
actuators. Semiconductor materials also
include organic materials-such as inks
and plastics, as they can conduct, while
at the same time amenable to stretching
and bending movements.

Never lose your fruit with
This Smart Tablecloth
According to a study from Dartmouth
College and Microsoft Research, researchers have designed a smart fabric that can
detect non-metallic objects, including a
misplaced apple or a pair of eyeglasses.
A study and demonstration video describing the sensing system were presented
at the ACM Symposium on User Interface
Software and Technology (UIST 2020).

EVALUATION ENGINEERING NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020

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The fabric, named Capacitivo, differentiates between objects of various
shapes and sizes by sensing changes in
its electrodes due to the objects' electrical
fields. Variations in charge can relate to
the type of material, size of the object and
shape of the contact area. Data detected
on the electrical charge is compared to
data compiled in the system through
machine-learning techniques.
" Being able to sense non-metallic objects is a breakthrough for smart fabrics
because it allows users to interact with
a wide variety of everyday items in entirely new ways, " said Te-Yen Wu aPhD
student at Dartmouth and lead author
of the study.1

Global Smart Fabrics Market
to Reach $11.4B by 2027
According to a report by ReportLinker,
the global market for smart fabrics is predicted to reach a size of 11.4 billion by
2027. In 2020, the market stands at $3.6
billion. That amounts to a CAGR of 18%
between 2020 and 2027. The market in the
U.S. in 2020 is $1.1 billion, while China is
expected to grow at 17.4% during the next
7-year period.
The report further states that the U.S.,
Canada, Japan, China and Europe will
drive the projected 18.2% CAGR for the
fitness & sports segment of the market.
The U.S. market is expected to be $1.7 billion by 2027.2

New textile could keep you cool
in the heat, warm in the cold
Researchers from China have reported,
in ACS Applied Materials &Interfaces,

that they have created a fabric that can
regulate its temperature in cold or heat,
with no energy input. " Smart textiles "
that can heat or cool have existed previously but having both functions in one
fabric is a unique development. The researchers freeze-spun silk and chitosan,
a material from the hard outer skeleton of
shellfish, into colored fibers with porous
microstructures. They filled the pores
with polyethylene glycol (PEG), a phasechanging polymer that absorbs and releases thermal energy. Then, they coated
the threads with polydimethylsiloxane to
keep the liquid PEG from leaking out. The
resulting fibers were strong, flexible and
water-repellent. To test the fibers, the researchers wove them into a patch of fabric
that they put into a polyester glove. When
a person wearing the glove placed their
hand in a hot chamber (122º F), the solid
PEG absorbed heat from the environment,
melting into a liquid and cooling the skin
under the patch. Then, when the gloved
hand moved to a cold (50º F) chamber, the
PEG solidified, releasing heat and warming the skin. The process for making the
fabric is compatible with the existing textile industry and could be scaled up for
mass production, the researchers say.3
REFERENCES

1. Dartmouth University, " Smart Tablecloth Can
Find Fruit and Help with Watering the Plants, "
Oct. 29, 2020
2. Report Linker, " Global Smart Fabrics
Industry, " July 2020
3. American Chemical Society, " New textile
could keep you cool in the heat, warm in the
cold, " April 15, 2020

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