I’ve talked about new ways to power mobile devices with clothing before with a fashion line that integrates solar panels. But now a team led by Zhong Lin Wang at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Atlanta, USA) and Jong Min Kim of Samsung Electronics in South Korea is introducing a prototype for a flexible energy storage device that can be worked into textiles. The research team has now developed a prototype for a high-efficiency fiber-based electrochemical micro-supercapacitor that uses zinc oxide nanowires as electrodes. The substrate for one of the electrode is a flexible, fine plastic wire; for the other electrode it is a fiber made of Kevlar. Kevlar is the material used to make bulletproof vests. The researchers were able to grow zinc oxide nanowires on each of these substrates. Additional coatings with materials like gold and manganese oxide could further improve the charge capacitance. Using tweezers, the researchers then wrapped each of the plastic wires with a Kevlar fiber. This assembly was then embedded in a solid gel electrolyte that separates the two electrodes and allows for the necessary charge transport. A bundle of these fibers could be processed to form a thread. A particularly intriguing application would be the use of these new charge-storage media in combination with flexible fiber nanogenerators. The wearer’s heartbeat and steps, or even a light wind, would be enough to move the piezoelectric zinc oxide nanowires in the fibers, generating electrical current. I guess that would be ‘fashion with a purpose’.
Eavesdropper