Electronic textiles control household appliances by swiping fingers

Electronic textiles allow people to remotely control home appliances or computers by touching wristbands or other clothing - especially useful for people with limited mobility. Now, researchers at ACS Nano have developed a new type of electronic textile that is self-powered, highly sensitive and washable.

Electronic textiles are not new, but most existing versions are poorly breathable, cannot be cleaned, and are too costly or too complicated. Wang Yanna, Guo Hengyu, Li Conju and her colleagues hope to develop an electronic textile that can overcome all these limitations and is highly sensitive to human touch.

The researchers fabricated a self-powered friction nanogenerator by depositing a conductive carbon nanotube electrode array on a nylon fabric. In order to make the E-textiles washable, they add polyurethane to the carbon nanotube ink, which allows the nanotubes to adhere firmly to the fabric. They covered the array with a piece of silk and shaped the textile into a wristband. When sliding with a finger in a different pattern, the electrical signals generated by the electronic textile are coupled to a computer to control the program, or for a household object to turn on the lights, fans or microwaves of the room. According to the researchers, this electronic textile is suitable for human skin to be breathable, washable and inexpensive, and can be produced on a large scale.