A Materials Scientist is on A Roll
She created two new materials less than a year apart!
Hiya!
As we all know, with global warming beginning to flex its muscles, it’s unlikely we can continue along our current innovative path much longer without some adjustments. Especially when it comes to sourcing our electricity and materials.
Thankfully, there are plenty of ideas to shift away from fossil fuels and make our access to electricity as renewable as possible. Similarly, scientists discovered and designed a plethora of new materials over the last few years. Some are more exciting than others, but there’s one that I want to share with you — well, two things and one person — that could change our society if they become widely available.
The Fashion Industry
I’m not going to get into the stats and gloom regarding the impact of our dependence on fossil fuels worldwide. I’m sure we’ve all been hit over the head enough by them. But what may be less well known is the effect our materials, including clothing, have on global warming.
According to the World Economic Forum, in 2020, the fashion industry was responsible for “10 percent of all humanity’s carbon emissions and is the second-largest consumer of the world’s water supply.”
Though, even if we were to chill our shopping addiction, the materials most of our clothes are made of also negatively impact global warming. Polyester is a super common textile since it’s cheap and can be easily mixed with other materials such as cotton.
But, polyester releases two to three times more carbon emissions than cotton does. Plus, it’s made of a type of plastic, and its fibers don’t break down in the ocean. The same is true for fleece. How do polyester and fleece end up in the ocean?
It’s because washing our clothes releases the equivalent of 50 billion plastic bottles worth of microfibers every year. In case you’re wondering, that’s 500,000 tons worth of microfibers.
That alone shows a need for new materials. Thankfully, scientists are working on just that. One expert, in particular, has already published back-to-back breakthroughs in the area.
Breakthrough Number One
The “who” I referred to earlier is Lee Pooi See. She’s the President’s Chair Professor of Materials Science & Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. She’s also the Dean, Graduate College and Associate Provost (Graduate Education), and a materials scientist — phew!
Last year, Pooi See and her team of researchers developed a battery that could revolutionize our electronics. They published their findings in the July of 2021 edition of Science Advances. This battery is exciting for a few reasons. First, it’s soft and stretchy, which is already unlike most batteries. But its flexibility isn’t the only thing setting it apart. What’s really amazing is that it’s powered by human sweat, and it’s more eco-friendly than other batteries on the market.
The battery is as flat as a band-aid and only 2 cm by 2 cm big. It’s made of printed silver flake electrodes fixed to a piece of sweat absorbant and flexible material. The printable electrodes generate electricity when they sense sweat and can be easily attached to any wearable device, including arm straps and watches.
The best part is, they contain no heavy metals or toxic chemicals. Unlike the conventional batteries we use today, which tend to be made of unsustainable materials poisonous to the environment. Pooi See’s battery could cut down on our electronic waste and be a useful tool within several industries, from athletics to medicine and even consumer products.
Plus, one of their trials showed that wearing the battery around your wrist while cycling on a stationary bike for 30 minutes could generate a voltage of 4.2 V and output power of 3.9 mW. Which is enough to power a commercial temperature sensor device and send the data continuously to a smartphone via Bluetooth.
But she didn’t stop here, Pooi See continued her interest in new-age textiles.
Breakthrough Number Two
Amazingly, less than a year later, in March of 2022, Pooi See published another research article, this time in Advanced Materials, about something even more interesting than her battery — a stretchable and waterproof fabric that turns energy from body movement into electricity.
In a media release by Nanyang Technological Univesity, Professor Lee Pooi See states (the bolding is mine):
“Our energy harvesting prototype fabric can harness vibration energy from a human to potentially extend the lifetime of a battery or even to build self-powered systems. To our knowledge, this is the first hybrid perovskite-based energy device that is stable, stretchable, breathable, waterproof, and at the same time capable of delivering outstanding electrical output performance.”
This time, instead of a small and flexible battery that has to be attached to textile, it’s the fabric itself that’s remarkable. I mean, any fabric that is stretchable, breathable, and waterproof is already ideal, but to have it also generate electricity just from wearing it? That’s been science-fiction until now.
Just tapping on a 3cm by 4 cm piece of the new fabric creates enough electrical energy to illuminate 100 LED bulbs. In addition to its power, the material can be woven into other textiles, washed, folded, and crumpled without degradation.
Did I mention it’s made of lead-free perovskites to make them a more environmentally friendly option? It’s durable enough to be used as everyday clothing, though as of now, the fabric works for up to five months before needing to be replaced, which isn’t ideal but could be improved in time.
Perspective Shift
Granted, we won’t be seeing either of Pooi See’s textiles available for purchase any time soon. And with inflation the way it is, most of us couldn’t afford it even if it was. But, it’s pretty remarkable that such inventions exist in real life, especially ones that won’t worsen our climate issues.
How might this change our lives if it were easily attainable? Could it replace the need for chargers we plug into the wall and provide instantaneous health status to help us stay in tune with our bodies? Further, who says the fabric has to be limited to clothing?
Pooi See mentions in the press release that she and her team are now focused on exploring how they could use the fabric in other ways. Like harnessing the energy of raindrops falling on it or wind blowing through it. The possibilities are endless.
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