Nanotube-coated Yarn Fabric Detects Blood, Health of Wearer

Posted: December 17, 2008

page 2 of 2

“The concept of electrically sensitive clothing made of carbon nanotube-coated cotton is flexible in implementations and can be adapted for a variety of health monitoring tasks, as well as high performance garments,” Kotov said. According to the report, it is conceivable that clothes made from this material could be designed to harvest energy or store it or provide power for small electronic devices, although such developments are many years away and pose many challenges.

The personal care industry has noted the development of intelligent textiles previously, and has considered them for smart delivery in applications such as fragrance release and skin conditioning treatments. While it may seem a long way off, engineers are beginning to make it more feasible. Perhaps nanotechnology is providing the means to this end.

The paper published online in Nano Letters is titled, “Smart Electronic Yarns and Wearable Fabrics for Human Biomonitoring Made by Carbon Nanotube Coating with Polyelectrolytes.” Other contributors are with Jiangnan University in China. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

For more information, visit the University of Michigan Web site.