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E-textiles get fashion upgrade with memory-storing fiber

Date:
September 26, 2011
Source:
American Institute of Physics
Summary:
In the future when you upgrade your computer, you may also be upgrading your wardrobe as researchers create novel new textiles that pull double-duty as fabrics and electronics.
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In the future when you upgrade your computer, you may also be upgrading your wardrobe as researchers create novel new textiles that pull double-duty as fabrics and electronics.

The integration of electronics into textiles is a burgeoning field of research that may soon enable smart fabrics and wearable electronics. Bringing this technology one step closer to fruition, Jin-Woo Han and Meyya Meyyappan at the Center for Nanotechnology at NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., have developed a new flexible memory fabric woven together from interlocking strands of copper and copper-oxide wires. At each juncture, or stitch along the fabric, a nanoscale dab of platinum is placed between the fibers. This "sandwich structure" at each crossing forms a resistive memory circuit. Resistive memory has received much attention due to the simplicity of its design.

As described in the AIP's journal AIP Advances, the copper-oxide fibers serve as the storage medium because they are able to change from an insulator to a conductor simply by applying a voltage. The copper wires and the platinum layers serve as the bottom and top electrodes, respectively. This design easily lends itself to textiles because it naturally forms a crossbar memory structure where the fibers intersect. The researchers developed a reversible, rewritable memory system that was able to retain information for more than 100 days.

In this proof-of-concept design, the copper wires were one millimeter thick, though smaller diameter wire would allow for an increase in memory density and a reduction in weight. In practical applications, e-textiles would need to integrate a battery or power generator, sensors, and a computational element, as well as a memory structure. Taken together, an e-textile could potentially detect biomarkers for various diseases, monitor vital signs of the elderly or individuals in hostile environments, and then transmit that information to doctors.


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Journal Reference:

  1. Jin-Woo Han, M. Meyyappan. Copper oxide resistive switching memory for e-textile. AIP Advances, 2011; 1 (3): 032162 DOI: 10.1063/1.3645967

Cite This Page:

American Institute of Physics. "E-textiles get fashion upgrade with memory-storing fiber." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 26 September 2011. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110926104620.htm>.
American Institute of Physics. (2011, September 26). E-textiles get fashion upgrade with memory-storing fiber. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 19, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110926104620.htm
American Institute of Physics. "E-textiles get fashion upgrade with memory-storing fiber." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/09/110926104620.htm (accessed March 19, 2024).

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