{"id":15784,"date":"2019-03-05T19:56:35","date_gmt":"2019-03-05T19:56:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=15784&post_type=story"},"modified":"2020-03-30T15:32:50","modified_gmt":"2020-03-30T15:32:50","slug":"nanotech-can-improve-wearing","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/nanotech-can-improve-wearing\/","title":{"rendered":"How Nanotech Can Improve What We\u2019re Wearing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spring 2019 | By Robert Stephens<\/em><\/p>\n

The latest installment in the series of Marvel movies, Captain Marvel<\/em>, gives us yet another reason to, well, marvel. But what is it exactly that makes us watch these films in awe? The superheroes are somehow less super and less heroic when wearing jeans and button-down shirts. It\u2019s those suits. They shield. They morph. They are mythical wonders said to be birthed from nanotechnology.<\/p>\n

So as we watch, we might think, \u201cCan\u2019t we get someone to work on\u00a0clothing like this for real?\u201d Turns out, researchers at 麻豆原创\u2019s NanoScience Technology Center<\/a> are perfecting a number of concepts that you might consider marvelous. And we\u2019re closer to wearing them than you think.<\/p>\n

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[photo id=”16485″ title=”infographic-wearabletech-509-x-1118jpg” alt=”” position=”center” width=”100%”][\/photo]<\/section>\n<\/div>\n
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Hair Restoration<\/span>
\nHard helmets with rigid LEDs or lasers have been used in crude methods to stimulate hair growth. But the flexibility of quantum dot light-emitting devices (QLEDs), will make it possible for people to wear less cumbersome caps while the concentrated light addresses alopecia.
\nTech:<\/span> QLEDs
\nResearcher:<\/span> Yajie Dong, assistant professor of materials science<\/a> and engineering<\/a>
\nEstimated arrival:<\/span> within two years<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Cancer Treatment Patches<\/span>
\nQLEDs are also generating interest with medical researchers. Light-emitting devices could be\u00a0wrapped around cancerous areas \u2014 skin and oral cancers, in particular \u2014 allowing patients to\u00a0receive treatment while going about their daily lives.
\nTech:<\/span> QLEDs
\nResearcher:<\/span> Yajie Dong
\nEstimated arrival:<\/span> four years, pending government approval<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Cell and Wound Repair<\/span>
\nElite athletes sometimes use light therapy to stimulate cell repair. With Dong\u2019s invention, an athlete at any level could wear QLEDs instead of lying prone at a doctor\u2019s office. In theory, QLEDs could also be applied like bandages to quickly heal open wounds. Dong has a prototype\u00a0ready. \u201cLike any invention,\u201d says Dong, \u201cit\u2019s a matter of finding a partner who can help scale it up.
\nTech:<\/span> QLEDs
\nResearcher:<\/span> Yajie Dong
\nEstimated arrival:\u00a0<\/span>two to three years<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
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\"\"<\/div>\n
Cell and Wound Repair<\/span>
\nElite athletes sometimes use light therapy to stimulate cell repair. With Dong\u2019s invention, an athlete at any level could wear QLEDs instead of lying prone at a doctor\u2019s office. In theory, QLEDs could also be applied like bandages to quickly heal open wounds. Dong has a prototype\u00a0ready. \u201cLike any invention,\u201d says Dong, \u201cit\u2019s a matter of finding a partner who can help scale it up.
\nTech:<\/span> QLEDs
\nResearcher:<\/span> Yajie Dong
\nEstimated arrival:\u00a0<\/span>two to three years<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Indestructible Suits<\/span>
\nBullet-resistant vests stop bullets one layer at a time through the transfer of kinetic energy. But a suit using carbon nanotube mesh could, in theory, better stop higher-energy bullets and knife blades from fully penetrating.
\nTech:<\/span> Carbon nanotube composites
\nResearcher:<\/span> Zhai and Fox
\nEstimated arrival:\u00a0<\/span>five to 10 years<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
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Heart-monitor Patches<\/span>
\nThe same textile fibers that charge devices could also be molded into adhesive patches used for heart monitoring, eliminating the need for hospital stays.
\nTech:<\/span> Energy harvesting and storing in the form of wired fabric
\nResearcher:<\/span> Jayan Thomas
\nEstimated arrival:\u00a0<\/span>five to 10 years<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
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Self-repairing Clothes<\/span>
\nImagine your shirt or jacket rips, and then you watch it miraculously repair itself. That\u2019s essentially what carbon nanotube composites can do \u2014 draw energy to the juncture of a tear, then reconnect the material. \u201cThe interesting thing about carbon nanotubes is that they can induce changes in the molecules around them if [the molecules are] stretched or torn,\u201d says David Fox Jr. \u201916<\/strong>. \u201cThese sorts of materials can be integrated into self-healing materials, like fabric, that arrange themselves on the molecular level.\u201d
\nTech:<\/span> Carbon nanotube composites, known as self-correcting fibers
\nResearcher:<\/span> Lei Zhai, professor of nanotechnology<\/a> and chemistry<\/a>, and graduate assistant David Fox Jr. \u201916<\/strong>
\nEstimated arrival:\u00a0<\/span>30 years<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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Device-charging Shirts<\/span>
\nPortability of energy has always been a huge challenge, which is why you often see people crowded around electrical outlets at airports to charge their phones. By weaving wired fabric\u00a0into a shirt or jacket, you could charge a device just by putting it into a pocket.
\nTech:<\/span> Energy harvesting and storing in the form of wired fabric
\nResearcher:<\/span> Jayan Thomas, associate professor of materials science<\/a> and engineering<\/a>
\nEstimated arrival:\u00a0<\/span>three to five years<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/div>\n
Heart-monitor Patches<\/span>
\nThe same textile fibers that charge devices could also be molded into adhesive patches used for heart monitoring, eliminating the need for hospital stays.
\nTech:<\/span> Energy harvesting and storing in the form of wired fabric
\nResearcher:<\/span> Jayan Thomas
\nEstimated arrival:\u00a0<\/span>five to 10 years<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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