LED and sensors are woven into the fiber by US scientists, and new wearable devices can be developed.

The 8 edition of British Journal of nature published the latest research in Materials Science: the Massachusetts Institute of Technology team used a new manufacturing method to directly introduce light-emitting diodes (LED) and sensors into textile grade polymer fibers. This technology can be used to develop new wearable technology that can realize optical communication and health monitoring.

Semiconductor diode that can transmit or detect light is the basic component of communication and sensor technology. If they can be integrated into the fabric, it is possible to create new wearable electronic devices. However, it has proved that it is difficult to combine the function of semiconductor devices with the scalability of fiber based textiles.

American scientists have directly introduced light-emitting diodes and sensors into textile grade polymer fibers. (source: nature)

Iel Frincke, a researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his colleagues, embarked from a larger polymer preform to insert a semiconductor device into a hollow channel of a preform. Then, when the conductor is threaded into the hollow channel, the preform is heated and stretched to form a stretched fiber bundle. As a result, the light emitted by the electrical connection or the light detection diode is distributed evenly in the fiber bundle evenly. The process has inherent scalability and can produce hundreds of meters long functional fibers. Once stretched, the fibers can be easily woven into the fabric.

The research team turned these diode fibers into a standard household washing machine for ten turns and found that their properties were not damaged, proving their durability. They also show that two-way optical communication links can be built between two kinds of textiles including light detection and luminescent fibers. Not only that, this smart fabric can also be used to measure the heart rate of wearers.

The researchers concluded that the new manufacturing technology enables people to create more advanced textiles, smart textiles and wearable technology or will follow their own "Moore's law" to become increasingly sophisticated.

Source: ScienceDaily daily

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