Piezoelectric Nylon‐11 Fibers for Electronic Textiles, Energy Harvesting and Sensing

Abstract

Electronic textiles and functional fabrics are among the key constituents envisioned for wearable electronics applications. For e‐textiles, the challenge is to process materials of desired electronic properties such as piezoelectricity into fibers to be integrated as wefts or wraps in the fabrics. Nylons, first introduced in the 1940s for stockings, are among the most widely used synthetic fibers in textiles. However, realization of nylon‐based e‐textiles has remained elusive due to the difficulty of achieving the piezoelectric phase in the nylon fibers. Here, piezoelectric nylon‐11 fibers are demonstrated and it is shown that the resulting fibers are viable for applications in energy harvesting from low frequency mechanical vibrations and in motion sensors. A simulation study is presented that elucidates on the sensitivity of the nylon‐11 fibers toward external mechanical stimuli. Moreover, a strategy is proposed and validated to significantly boost the electrical performance of the fibers. Since a large fraction of the textile industry is based on nylon fibers, the demonstration of piezoelectric nylon fibers will be a major step toward realization of electronic textiles for applications in apparels, health monitoring, sportswear, and portable energy generation.

E-Textile Technology Review–From Materials to Application

“…The following examples highlight some of the recent key achievements in the field of piezoelectric e-textiles for energy harvesting applications. Anwar et al [167] used the electrospinning method for the fabrication of nylon-11 nanofibers from nylon-11 in TFA:acetone solution. In this research, the interplay between the solvent mixture, the evaporation rate, the pulling force acting on the fiber, and the fibers' diameter all play a decisive role in the formation of the self-poled, highly piezoelectric δˊ-crystalline phase.…”

Portable and wearable self-powered systems based on emerging energy harvesting technology

“…Therefore, triboelectric 15,16 , piezoelectric 17,18 , and electromagnetic 19,20 energy harvesters are suitable for harvesting mechanical energy during human motion. Biofuel cells use enzymes or microbes as catalysts to convert chemical energy into electrical energy.…”

Effect of Stretching on Crystalline Structure, Ferroelectric and Piezoelectric Properties of Solution-Cast Nylon-11 Films

“…Recently, a few investigations have attempted to achieve ferroelectric or piezoelectric nylon-11 films via selecting suitable solvents [ 23 , 24 , 25 ]. For instance, Anwar et al reported a transparent ferroelectric nylon-11 thin film processed from a trifluoroacetic acid (TFA)/acetone mixture [ 26 ]. However, researches on understanding of the crystalline structure of solution-cast nylon-11 films are still quite limited, and especially its the crystalline structural evolution upon post-treatment like uniaxial stretching has been less focused on.…”