Smart fibers that react after being exposed to certain stimuli can give way to the production of smart clothes, automatic window shades and artificial limbs that have similar sensitivity as human muscles. These may all soon be possible after Chinese scientists have developed new smart fibers that can be manipulated or controlled, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Professor Peng Huisheng, who led the research team from Fudan University based in Shanghai, said that the fibers, measuring between a nanometer and micrometer in size, can be controlled and moved. Because the movement can be manipulated, the fibers can be shifted clockwise or be controlled to make contracting movements.
Peng said that the fibers were inspired by the movement mechanism in plants and they can be manipulated using different liquids or solvents.
He added that fibers with strong contraction power can be used to generate power or electricity. If woven, they can be turned into smart textiles.
In the industrial sector, fibers that react to certain gasses or chemicals can enable the smart cutting of valves in the case of a leak.
"The materials are promising in many applications in automated sensing and actuating," Peng said.
In the lab, the team showed a smart curtain they developed that is sensitive to vapor which automatically closes when the indoor humidity is high.
Biomass power generators made with fibers sensitive to ethanol can also be made possible. When the fibers react to ethanol, the contraction movement produced can help generate power.
The report said that smart fibers have huge potential application in the future.
The team's research was published in the latest version of Nature Nanotechnology.