With industry's need for continual advancement in materials performance, nanofibers are the next frontier in meeting this demand across a range of applications.
At DiPole Materials, our team of experts is on the cutting edge of developing custom advanced materials by electrospinning nanofibers.
For the technical textiles and smart garment industry, we have created PiezoYarn. PiezoYarn behaves much like a nylon yarn but it generates electricity when stretched or twisted. This makes it ideal for battery free motion detectors in smart garments.
Through our patent-protected piezoelectric polymer nanofibers, we’re creating the next generation of functional fibers, technical textiles and smart garments.
To create our PiezoYarn, we electrospin nanofibers containing aligned dipoles that are inherently piezoelectric as produced and twist them into various size yarns.
PiezoYarn Properties
Piezoelectric electrospun nanofibers from various polymers produce a yarn that is:
- Capable of being woven or knitted on standard industrial equipment
- Generates electrical output suitable for sensing and energy harvesting
DiPole Materials’ founder, Dr. James West and his lab team at Johns Hopkins University, patented our advanced process of producing piezoelectric (energy harvesting) polymer nanofibers in a single manufacturing step.
PiezoYarn Method
The method :
- Was developed utilizing the synthetic polypeptide poly(benzyl glutamate) (PBLG)
- Is suitable for other piezoelectric polymers such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and polymer/inorganic composites
- Can be used to produce continuous yarns
PiezoYarn Advantages
With PiezoYarn, our clothing will:
- Tell us when we are sick
- Alert us to danger
- Cool us when we are hot