Pattern-based polymerization and the future of smart-textiling

Researchers have found a way to create fiber materials that are capable of protecting "underlying areas from UV light," which helps to solve a greater problem when it comes to smart materials. 

The thiol-epoxy/thiol-ene polymer researchers developed is part of a breakthrough in producing smart textiles and fiber-based devices.

Though UV protection is significant, the development of multi-material fibers has wide use with metal, glass and semiconductors, which can benefit biomedicine, robotics and smart textiles, ACS Central Science reported on Nov. 25.

"Youngbin Lee, Polina Anikeeva and colleagues developed a thiol-epoxy/thiol-ene polymer that could be combined with other materials, heated and drawn from a macroscale model into fibers that were coated with the polymer," ACS Central Science reported. "When exposed to ultraviolet light, the polymer, which is photosensitive, crosslinked into a network that was insoluble to common solvents, such as acetone."

ACS Central Science is a journal from the American Chemical Society.

The research team's development is significant for creating these smart fibers that can be hundreds of meters in length. The method solved the problem of positioning technology at particular locations and no longer constrained the multi-material design specifically to the craft or fiber length.  

"... Because the fibers are composed of the same materials along their lengths, it is difficult to position functional elements, such as electrodes or sensors, at specific locations," ACS Central Science reported.

The UV protection fibers Lee, Anikeeva and their team developed is a polymer. Their process is known as photolithography.

"By placing "masks" at specific locations along the fiber in a process known as photolithography, the researchers could protect the underlying areas from UV light," ACS Central Science reported. "Then, they removed the masks and treated the fiber with acetone. The polymer in the areas that had been covered dissolved to expose the underlying materials."

To test the theory, ACS Central Science said the research team designed patterns with the fibers that "exposed an electrically conducting filament."

"The remaining polymer acted as an insulator along the length of the fiber," ACS Central Science reported. "In this way, electrodes or other microdevices could be placed in customizable patterns along multi-material fibers, the researchers say."