Feature Story
Harvest of innovations at Geneva's Invention Expo
Dr Li Li  

Dr Li Li

Silver Medal Novel wearable thermal functional textile with conductive materials

Principal Investigator: Dr Li Li, Institute of Textiles and Clothing

The electronic wear currently on the market is not user-friendly for two main reasons: it lacks a sense of aesthetics and uses over-sized batteries. The Institute of Textiles and Clothing has thus partnered with the Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel to develop a new wearable electronic technology and thermal fabric.

Infra-red images of human subject’s back while wearing electric heating knitwear  

Infra-red images of human subject’s back while wearing electric heating knitwear

This novel fabric is light and easily usable. With batteries the size of those used for mobile phones, it can be customized in various patterns, heating positions and temperatures. It can also be incorporated into textiles for outdoor apparel, household heating products and healthcare and medical applications.

The researchers based their work on the resistive network model, studying various fabric structures and densities. Through combining textile-based technologies, they then developed a new form of multi-functional fabric and yarn. The conductive path can be fully stowed inside the fabric to conduct heat wirelessly, and the fabric can be washed after the battery is removed. ♦