Advanced Fabrics
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Advanced Fabrics Heidi L. Schreuder-Gibson and Mary Lynn Realff, Guest Editors Abstract This brief article describes the content of the August 2003 issue of MRS Bulletin focusing on Advanced Fabrics. The six articles will feature reviews of advanced fibers, new fabric constructions and design considerations, materials for novel fabric properties, and the incorporation of new elements within fabric structures to add multifunctional, wearable features to clothing. Keywords: advanced fabrics, chemical protection, electronics, textiles.
Introduction For thousands of years, clothing has consisted of passive layers, providing warmth and protection beyond our natural skin, that have participated only in limited ways in signaling our intentions to others. However, as materials of exquisite sensitivity to external stimulants or the wearer’s physiology are coupled with techniques of microfabrication, the functionality of fabrics will be extended well beyond these historical limits. One can imagine clothing that senses and adapts to our surroundings much like a second skin. Embedding computational elements into fabrics will lead to “garment computers” enabled by adaptations of materials and weaves that go beyond the wearable computers of today. These innovations will build upon the current textile capability that is described in the following articles. What is clear is that textiles are on the cusp of a significant breakthrough in the way we will use clothing— our garments will become an integral part of us and will serve as a highly specialized layer, sensing and protecting us from the environment. This issue of MRS Bulletin on Advanced Fabrics will describe recent advances in fabric construction and functionality that are expected to lead to innovative new garments, technical textiles, and fabric-based composites. Current work and interdisciplinary topics will be described, such as the use of electronics in fabrics; the use of new conductive, electrochromic, and luminescent polymers in fibers; chemical sensing; garments that monitor physiological status (i.e., blood pressure, body temperature, and blood oxygen levels); new developments in chemical and biological protective fabrics; engineering considerations for environmental control within fabrics; and new
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high-strength fibers for protective fabricbased armor. As the functions of a textile become increasingly complex, it must be synthesized as a system rather than as a hierarchy of components. The invention of a new polymer or blend is only the first step in the process of developing new advanced functionality in fabrics. It is necessary to ask new categories of questions: What is the best place and length scale to add the new function to the fabric? Answering this question may result in a new fiber woven into a base textile or, in other cases, new materials specifically located and patterned onto individual fiber surfaces. Optimizing the interaction of new functions in fabrics to the size, needs, and preferences of the wearer requires a new paradigm, shifting fabri
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