Transcript Slide 1

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, F1 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 100m 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 – CoolMax
• CoolMax 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
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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
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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
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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
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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
(1/100,000th 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)
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Engineered
Industrial textiles
Technical textiles
Aramid fibre
Nomex
Kevlar
Carbon fibre
Glass fibre
Reflective textiles
Fibre optics
Tactel
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Smart/intelligent textiles
Memory foam
Thermochromic
Photochromic
Phosphorescent
Electronic textiles
Wearable electronics
Breathable
Wicking
Membrane
GORE-TEX®
SympaTex
© Folens 2009
Vocabulary (2)
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Permatex
CoolMax
Laminating
Biomimetics
Fastskin
Stomatex
X-Static
Chitosan
Chitopoly
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Calcium alginate
Barrier fabric
Bio fibre
Bamboo
Spacer fabric
Nanotechnology
Genetic modification
BioSteel
• Write down an explanation for three of the things you have
learned about today.
© Folens 2009