We have been coming across the word ’smart clothing’ every now and then these days. Now, a new machine that makes nanostructured fibers is being touted as the key to a new cohort of military uniforms that boast an array of functionalities such as generating and storing energy. The machine has been fabricated by Hills, of West Melbourne, FL and is presently one of only two in the world capable of producing such fibers. This breakthrough machine will be handed over to Natick facility next year, where it will help in the making of multifunctional uniforms.
One of the most impending uses of the machine is assembling fibers that act as rechargeable batteries. . Angela Belcher, a professor of biological and chemical engineering at MIT cites that some of the sample structures made by the novel device could be useful for combining positive and negative battery electrodes and electrolytes into individual threads. These threads could further be woven into uniforms.
The need of the hour, in the words of Dave Schimmel, a project manager at the Natick facility, is to store energy in less space and relieve soldiers of logistical burdens so that they can focus on their jobs. The Natick machine has a list of proposed solutions, including molding of lightweight fuel cells and batteries to the shape of a soldier’s body armor. Other than polymers, the Natick machine can process materials also, which could lead to the making of functional fabrics.
The cross-sectional patterns made by the machine look like sliced pies or concentric rings, with some of them highly complex. But, once made, the fibers can be tailored by dissolving certain polymers, leaving behind fibers with increased surface area. Stephen Fossey, a researcher at the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research Development and Engineering Center days that what they are lacking now is not the capabilities of the machine but enough researchers with ideas for how to use it.
The novel machine could convert soldiers’ uniforms into power supplies. This is, without doubt, not the only thing that this machine can do. I mean, turning attire into power supply, is simply fantastic.
via TechnologyReview
