Smart Clothes

The textile sensor developed by ETRI.
The textile sensor developed by ETRI.

 

A Korean research team has opened a way to turn textiles into sensors.

The Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) announced on June 17 that it has successfully developed a technology to make a washable, flexible, and highly-sensitive textile-type gas sensor.

The technology can be utilized to coat graphene using molecular adhesives to textile like nylon, cotton, or polyester so that textile can check whether or not gas exists in the air. When graphene oxides meet the NO2 included in methane gases at room temperatures, their resistivity changes based on the gas density. 

As a result, when putting out a fire or entering a small area in which the condition of the air cannot be identified, it will be possible for firefighters to check the condition of the air through a connected device by wearing work clothes with gas sensors made from textiles.

“The gas sensor can maintain its function after being washed or bent, even 1,000 times,” explained the ETRI in a statement, adding, “Since the sensor is made from µm or mm thick threads or textiles, it can be utilized by putting a detecting substance on it. On top of that, it does not need additional power to operate.” 

The ETRI is going to expand the kind of detectable gases, and plans to transfer the manufacturing technology to a flexible electronic device maker, a wearable device supplier, or a company related to textile-type filters.

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