Actively actuated all dispenser printed thermochromic smart fabric device

作者：Ahmed Z^*; Wei Y; Torah R; Tudor J

来源：Electronics Letters, 2016, 52(19): 1601-U40.

DOI：10.1049/el.2016.1073

• thermo-optical effects
• intelligent actuators
• cotton fabrics
• thermo-optical devices
• intelligent materials
• textile technology
• ink
• ink jet printing
• actively actuated all dispenser printed thermochromic smart fabric device
• art dispenser printing
• ultraviolet curable TC ink
• conductive track-based printed heater
• untreated polyester cotton fabric
• activation temperatures
• smart fabric applications

An all printed actively actuated thermochromic (TC) smart fabric device is reported for the first time using a state of the art dispenser printing technique. The device consists of an ultraviolet curable TC ink with an activation temperature of 33 degrees C actuated by conductive track-based printed heater. The device is printed on untreated polyester cotton fabric. It offers a significant improvement in flexibility and design freedom over the state of the art TC fabric devices. The printed device changes colour from black to green in 10.8 s using 1.46 W DC power. It is shown that the time required for the device to change colour reduces tenfold with only a threefold increase in input power. It can be fabricated on other fabric or flexible substrates and in a range of colours and activation temperatures depending on the formulation chosen. The printed device is 30 x 21.5 mm which can be scaled up or down to suit the application. It can be used as an indicator in combination with sensors for smart fabric applications.

• 出版日期2016-9-15