My team and I produce textile-based electronic devices that retain the comfort, breathability, and feel of everyday fabrics and garments. We develop vapor-phase coating chemistries to imperceptibly coat mass-produced threads and textiles or readily-available premade garments with a range of conjugated polymer materials. We then use traditional textile and garment manufacturing routines, such as weaving, knitting, and sewing, to create novel textile electronics using our coated fabrics and threads. The products coming out of our lab seamlessly integrate electronic function with wearability in a way that is unmatched by contemporaries. Some of our functional and wearable products include: thermoelectric garments that generate power from temperature differentials between the human body and ambient; textile triboelectric generators that convert small body motions into stored energy; wear-, wash- and ironing-resistant conductive cloths that generate heat with a small applied voltage; and polymer-coated nylon fiber supercapacitors that can be sewed or knitted into garments for wearable and portable energy storage.
Awards and Achievements
- Air Force Young Investigator Award ( 2014)
- 3M Young Faculty Award ( 2013)
- Forbes "30 Under 30" in Energy ( 2012)
- AAAS / L'Oreal USA Women in Science Fellow ( 2011)
- Kavli Fellow