Smart clothes: pure silk "artificial muscle"

If there is a smart clothes, you can sense the surface moisture of the skin. When the sweat is long, the sleeves become short sleeves, and when the sweat is dry, it will be restored. Today, this vision has become possible. State Key Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Biology, Nankai University, Professor Liu Feng compliance research team won a green silk pure "artificial muscles" can be achieved through automatic retractable perception humidity. This new type of "artificial muscle" can be used not only for smart fabrics, but also for the development of soft robots. A few days ago, the paper introducing the results was published in the international authoritative journal “Advanced Functional Materials”.

Nowadays, people have made good progress in the development of smart textiles. The manufactured textiles have new functions such as energy storage, self-cleaning, color change, temperature and humidity adjustment. “If textiles can respond to humidity, water and heat management by adjusting macroscopic shape or porosity will provide more comfort for people. This idea has aroused great interest.” Liu Zunfeng said.

The team of Liu Zunfeng used a natural pure silk to prepare a new type of "artificial muscle" fiber, which was obtained by conventional industrial processes such as degumming, twisting, plying, and heat setting without using chemical modification and additives. The silk "artificial muscle" is driven by water mist and humidity to achieve torsion, stretching and contraction actuation. In order to achieve reversible driving without external fixation, the Liu Zunfeng team developed a torque-balanced fiber structure that achieved self-balancing by twisting and plying the twisted fibers.

The reporter saw in the lab that the researchers used a silk-stretching muscle to weave a doll-sized smart top, which increased the length of the sleeve of the smart top to the original length when the ambient humidity increased (for example, due to sweat or moisture). Half of it; when the humidity drops, it returns to its original state. This moisture-sensitive textile can be very effective in managing moisture and heat by changing the macro shape.

“Since the silk is widely used and has excellent wearing comfort, the silk 'artificial muscle' production process conforms to the current industrial process and does not require chemical modification and additional additives. We expect it to open up more possibilities in industrial applications. For example, smart textiles and flexible robots."