Modern Materials Name Properties Use Smart Materials Name

Modern Materials: _____________________________________________________ Name Properties Use

Smart Materials: _____________________________________________________ Name Properties Use

Smart materials: are able to react to changes in the environment without human intervention they change because of changes in light, power or heat for example. Technical/ modern textiles Have special abilities but they do not change- so they are not smart. © Folens 2009

Introduction and definition New materials and components • New and emerging technologies are being developed all the time. Many are developed by groups such as NASA or the army for high performance use. This means they can be used in unusual and extreme conditions but many of the new technologies often find their way onto the high street eventually. • Many new materials have been ‘engineered’ to behave in a particular way, which means they have been designed by man to have particular high end performance properties. © Folens 2009

Aramid fibres – Kevlar • Aramid is the name given to new textiles fibres in the nylon family. These are made from petrochemicals in the same way as nylon but they are engineered to have high performance properties. • Kevlar is five times stronger than steel. It also has the advantage of being lightweight as well as flame and chemical resistant. It is used for a variety of industrial and technical uses, e. g. bullet proof vests, tyres, cables, skis, aircraft petrol tank linings. © Folens 2009

Aramid fibres – Nomex • Nomex is highly fire and chemical retardant as well as being lightweight, strong and good for electrical insulation. • Its main uses are industrial and technical, e. g. firefighters’ clothing, racing drivers’ suits, transport furnishings (especially aircraft) and high specification performance wear. © Folens 2009

Carbon fibre • Carbon fibre is an industrial and technical fibre made from carbon that is usually used as a composite material. This means it begins as a soft material but is coated with epoxy resin which turns it into a hard material that can compete with metals. • It is very strong but also very lightweight and has a high resistance to fire and chemicals. Carbon fibre is very expensive to use. As a soft fabric it can be used for protective clothing and transport upholstery and as a composite it is used for tennis rackets, F 1 car bodies, rocket motors. © Folens 2009

Reflective textiles • Minute glass beads can be embedded into fabrics, yarns, dyes and coatings to make them reflective. • When bright lights are shone on them the fabrics reflect light back into the viewer’s eye, especially in darker conditions. • Light can be reflected up to a 100 m and the effect also works under water. • Morphex is a new multi-layered fibre that copies the structure of a butterfly’s wing and reflects light. Prismatic, Scotchlite, Retroglo and Reflec are brand names for high visibility fabrics and films. • Reflective fabrics are used a lot for protective clothing and sportswear. • Note that reflective textiles are not smart materials as they do not change in any way. © Folens 2009

Medical textiles • New textiles materials are now being used regularly in medicine. Many are naturally anti-bacterial and are more easily accepted by the body than traditional materials. • Knitting is often used to produce arteries, veins, implants and other medical textiles products. Industrial embroidery machines are also often used to produce medical textiles. © Folens 2009

Medical textiles and silver • Silver is naturally anti-bacterial and promotes healing. It also helps regulate body temperature and is cool when the wearer is warm and vice versa. • Silver yarns can be knitted or woven into fabrics to enhance their anti-bacterial properties. These fabrics can be made into pyjamas, bedding, clothing, curtains and so on, for use in hospitals or where there are possible infections. • X-static is a fibre made from silver that has been bonded onto a core fibre. © Folens 2009

Other uses of textiles in medicine • Medicines micro-encapsulated into fabrics • Anti-bacterial fabrics and finishes • Chitosan and Chitopoly – fabric made from crushed shrimps and crabs that soothes eczema • Electronics built into clothes to measure heart rate • Smart dyes that indicate changes in body heat • Barrier fabrics used for uniforms • Biodegradable fabrics for stitches and implants • Calcium alginate fibre, extracted from seaweed, is used to make highly absorbent dressings that absorb 20 times their weight in moisture and don’t stick to the wound. © Folens 2009

Microfibres (1) • Microfibres are made from nylon or Polyester but can be combined with other fibres. • They are engineered to be 60 times finer than a human hair. • This means these fibres can mimic the properties of natural fibres and breathability properties are also added. • They are often used for underwear and sportswear. © Folens 2009

Microfibres (2) • Microfibre fabrics are naturally lightweight and are closely knitted or woven and have as many as 200, 000 fibres per square. This makes them drape well and they are often used for clothing. • Microfibres fabrics can be used for home cleaning products that can clean without chemicals. The microfibres make the cloths super absorbent and their static properties attract dirt. © Folens 2009

Breathable fabrics www. gore-tex. co. uk www. sympatex. com www. climateclothing. co. uk © Folens 2009

Another breathable fabric – Cool. Max • Cool. Max is a high performance polyester fabric that is ‘smart’ and breathable. • It is engineered to have fibres that have micro channels that move sweat away from the body to the outer layer of the fabric, where it dries faster than any other fabric (completely dry in 30 minutes). • It is used for sportswear, underwear and so on. http: //coolmax. invista. com/ © Folens 2009

Memory foam • • Memory foam is a ‘smart’ material that is temperature sensitive. It is made from millions of microscopic memory pockets that slowly react to body heat and weight. It yields slowly under compression and moulds to the body shape evenly distributing a load. When the load is removed the foam recovers slowly. Memory foam was developed for astronauts and is now used by hospitals for its abilities or relieve pressure sores, improve circulation and give the correct alignment of the spine when lying down. © Folens 2009

Thermochromic and photochromic dyes • These are ‘smart’ dyes that react to heat (thermochromic) or UV light (photochromic) by changing colour. • They are used for fun fashion products and can also be used medically to indicate temperature changes or as a sun warning in children’s clothing. • The dyes can be used on fabrics, in sewing threads and in beads. © Folens 2009

Thermochromic liquid crystal fabric • This is a black fabric that has minute capsules of liquid crystal ink that change colour with heat. • It can be used as a simple health check to enable body temperature to be ‘seen’. © Folens 2009

Electronic textiles • • • Electronic textiles are ‘smart’ as they have fibres that conduct electricity or small microelectronic modules incorporated into a product. These modules can be linked to sound, light or other electronic functions. These products are often called wearable electronics or efabrics/e-garments and they often use ‘soft-switches’ that are electronic control switches that are integrated into the fabric. © Folens 2009

Biomimetics – Speedo Fastskin • • Biomimetics literally means ‘imitating a living bio-system’. It is the science of studying how nature works, e. g. how pine cones respond to heat, how birds use feathers to keep warm. Speedo ‘Fastskin’ is a knitted swimsuit/wetsuit fabric first used at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. The fabric is based on the skin of a shark and copies the way the surface of the skin allows water to travel over it aerodynamically. The garment is also designed to apply pressure on muscle groups to help the wearer save energy and give a maximum performance. Both the garment design and fabric for Speedo Fastskin are ‘smart’. © Folens 2009

Biomimetics – Stomatex • • Stomatex is a ‘smart’ neoprene fabric that mimics the way a plant passes water vapour from inside a leaf into the atmosphere. Trapped vapour molecules are removed from next to the skin by the flexing of the dome shapes on the fabric which have a small hole in the centre from where perspiration is released. This removes perspiration and keeps the body at an even temperature. The fabric can be used for wetsuits, sportswear, medical supports. © Folens 2009

Nanotechnology (1) • Nanotechnology is the ‘science of the tiny’ and it was pioneered by the aerospace industry where size and weight are very important. It is the ability to manipulate materials and systems on a nanoscale (1/100, 000 th of the width of a human hair). • Nano fibres are tiny molecules one billionth of a metre in size. They can’t be seen by an ordinary microscope and specialist tools have to be used to manipulate them. An area of fabric the size of a football pitch can be folded into something the size of a sugar cube. Nanotechnology enables us to make things on a very small scale making it easier to make products smaller, lighter, faster and more efficient. © Folens 2009

Nanotechnology (2) • In particular, nanotechnology has been used in textiles to develop breathable membranes for sports clothing, industrial filters and to increase the stain and water repellence of a fabric as well as improve its crease resistance where tiny molecules permanently attach themselves to fibres without clogging the weave. © Folens 2009

Name and describe a modern fabric which is water or stain resistant (2 marks) Name and describe 2 different modern fabrics which could be used in medical textiles(2 marks) Name and describe 2 modern fabrics which use electronics (2 marks) Name and describe 2 modern materials which mimic nature (2 marks)

Vocabulary (1) • • • Engineered Industrial textiles Technical textiles Aramid fibre Nomex Kevlar Carbon fibre Glass fibre Reflective textiles Fibre optics Tactel • • • Smart/intelligent textiles Memory foam Thermochromic Photochromic Phosphorescent Electronic textiles Wearable electronics Breathable Wicking Membrane GORE-TEX® Sympa. Tex © Folens 2009

Vocabulary (2) • • • Permatex Cool. Max Laminating Biomimetics Fastskin Stomatex X-Static Chitosan Chitopoly • • Calcium alginate Barrier fabric Bio fibre Bamboo Spacer fabric Nanotechnology Genetic modification Bio. Steel • Write down an explanation for three of the things you have learned about today. © Folens 2009