News

Chairman Ning LI, Founder of a Famous Chinese Sportswear and Sports Equipment Company, Visited PolyU

Dr Ning LI, Chairman of Li-Ning Company Limited, visited PolyU on 28th April 2022. Li-Ning Company Limited is a famous Chinese sportswear and sports equipment company founded in 1989 by Ning LI, a former Chinese Olympic gymnast. Professor Xiaoming TAO gave an introduction to the research and development knowledge transfer of the Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems.

Scalable Production of Ultrafine Polyaniline Fibres for Wearable Electronics

High performance conducting polymer fibres are highly demanded in fields from advanced fibrous devices to frontier fabric electronics. Recently, a joint research team, led by Prof. Xiaoming TAO and Dr Yang CHAI, reported a scalable good solvent exchange strategy to produce ultrafine polyaniline (PAni) fibres. This work was published at Nature Communications. The first authors are Dr. Fang Bo and Mr. Jianmin Yan.   Processing conducting polymers into macroscopically fibrous materials makes it possible to translate their nano-object features to human-friendly products in a continuous manner. Primarily due to the large diameters, the performance and expectations of most achieved continuous conducting polymer fibres (CPFs) have been limited by their insufficient electroactive surfaces and weak tensile strength. Tao’s group report a good solvent exchange strategy in a modified wet spinning technique to prepare the ultrafine PAni fibres (UFPFs) at the large scale. Beyond conventional wet spinning protocol, they replaced poor solvents by good solvents as the coagulation bath to decrease the viscosity of gel protofibres, which were subject to an ultrahigh drawing ratio and reduced to an ultrafine morphology. In the modified one-step wet spinning process, they used good solvents as the coagulation bath to realize the mass production of UFPFs. A decreasing of diameter from ~0.1 mm to ~4.7 µm was observed, which is a record small value in the achieved wet-spun CPFs. The ultrafine fibre shows a smooth surface, highly crystallized microstructures, and uniform electrical properties. Moreover, such an impressive drawing ratio enables a very high production efficiency of UFPFs beyond 40 meters per minute.   UFPFs show impressive mechanical performance and energy storage abilities. UFPFs have a modulus of 29.89±5.6 GPa, and a strength of 1080±71 MPa, at least one order of magnitude higher than that of CPFs with larger diameters. They used polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-H3PO4 gel electrolyte and two UFPF electrodes to construct a micro capacitor to evaluate the electrochemical activity of UFPFs. The area capacitance is between 1008 and 1666 mF cm-2 at the current densities between 0.32 and 3.18 mA cm-2, outperforming previously reported thick CPFs and other electrodes, and approaching to that of PAni nanowires. Benefitting from the favorable energy and charge storage performance of UFPFs, they demonstrated a high-performance all-solid organic electrochemical transistor (OECT), which is very soft, and shows favorable amplification performance with a high on-off current ratio (103) at low voltages (

Dr Dahua SHOU appointed as Limin Endowed Young Scholar in Advanced Textiles Technologies

Congratulation to Dr Dahua Shou, member of the Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems was appointed as Limin Endowed Young Scholar in Advanced Textiles Technologies. An awardee of many prestigious awards, including TechConnect Global Innovation Awards for two consecutive years and those conferred by the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, Dr Shou has published over 60 SCI papers in impactful journals such as Science Advances, PNAS, Advanced Energy Materials, and Advanced Functional Materials. Currently he serves on the editorial boards of four SCI journals and is a lead guest editor for several SCI journals.   The Limin Endowed Young Scholar in Advanced Textiles Technologies is donated by Dr Harry LEE, Chairman of TAL Apparel Limited and member of the Industrial Advisory Committee for RI-IWEAR.   Click the link for more information of the Endowed Young Scholars Scheme.

Important Progress in Efficient and Scalable Moisture-Electric Generators Made from Ionic Hydrogel

In the context of global resource shortage and high demand for carbon neutrality, it is of great significance to find simple and efficient green energy conversion technology to achieve sustainable development of energy and society. Moisture-electric generator (MEG) is based on the chemical energy from atmospheric moisture to generate electricity directly, without the generation of pollutants and harmful gas emissions, which is an emerging research focus in the energy field. However, most MEGs suffer from intermittent electrical signals and low current. In addition, the realization of large-scale integration and practical applications is still the bottleneck of current research. To address this issue, Prof. Tao’s research team have developed a novel and efficient ionic hydrogel moisture-electric generator (IHMEG), which converts the chemical energy released by captured moisture in the air into electricity, realizing efficient current density and power output. A single IHMEG unit of 0.25 cm2 can continuously generate direct-current electricity with a constant open-circuit voltage of ~0.8 V for over 1000 hours, a high short-current density of 0.24 mA·cm-2 and power density of up to 35 mW·cm-2. Of great importance is that large-scale integration of IHMEG units can be readily accomplished to offer a high voltage of up to 210 V, making the flexible IHMEG assembly capable of directly driving numerous commercial electronics, including electronic ink screen, metal electrodeposition setup and even light-emitting-diode arrays. This IHMEG device with high cost-efficiency, easy-to-scaleup fabrication and high power-output opens a brand-new perspective to develop a green, versatile and efficient power source for Internet-of-Things and wearable electronics. The work is published in Advanced Materials (https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.202200693) recently. The first author is a PhD graduate, Dr. Yang Su.

Research Excellence: Auxetic Textiles

Auxetic textiles, a category of fiber-based materials that possesses nonconventional properties including double curved shape under bending, high indentation resistance, high energy and vibration absorption capabilities, have been widely applied in in garments for such functions as impact protection, medical care and smart wearable devices, and so forth.   Having a negative Poisson's ratio, auxetic textiles tend to expand in all directions when stretched and shrink when compressed, hence enabling high level of comfortability and flexibility, as well as possibilities when applied in clothing design.   Prof. Hu Hong from the Institute of Textiles and Clothing, member of Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems, has successfully invented a series of auxetic materials, including auxetic yarns, auxetic fabrics and auxetic textile composites by altering the structures of fibers using different types of textile technologies including yarn spinning, knitting, weaving and braiding.   As the newly invented auxetic materials were originated from the laboratory, challenges were found in the initial stage of the real manufacturing environment. The lack of equipment to produce commercial auxetic materials, which have a more complex fiber assemble structure, had inspired Prof. Hu to develop new equipment himself.   Also, the manufacturing processes for his new invention had to be specially designed as there had been no similar process that could be referenced. The limited production capability in the initial stage has led to shortage of supply of usable auxetic textiles, restricting mass production of commercial end-use products.   The research team is gaining experience in auxetic textiles production, commercialization of more high quality auxetic textiles has been made available, and Prof. Hu's inventions have been applied in medical care, sports, functional and protective clothing, and wearable technology, etc.

Dr Dahua SHOU won Silver Medal at 2022 Inventions Geneva Evaluation Days

Dr Dahua SHOU, member of Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems, developed a novel fabric that won silver medal in online special edition of the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva (Geneva Inventions Expo) - Special Edition 2022 Inventions Geneva Evaluation Days – Virtual Event. The awarded project is Omni-Cool-Dry™: a Desert Beetle Inspired Skin-like Fabric for Dynamic Thermal and Moisture Management. Compared to normal fabrics, this fabric weighs 75% less, dissipates sweat 3 times faster, and is 50% less clingy during heavy perspiration. The wearer’s skin temperature is also 5°C lower. The skin-like fabric aims to keep wearers cool, dry and comfortable by dissipating sweat as water droplets, and by reflecting solar radiation and emitting body heat to the cold universe. The Inventions Geneva Evaluation Days – Virtual Event this year attracted about 800 inventions from 25 countries/regions. For details, please visit the event organiser’s official website: www.inventions-geneva.ch

Prof. Xiaoming TAO gave a talk at the Smart Wearable Technology Seminar

Prof. Xiaoming TAO, Director of RI-IWEAR, presented on the topic of “Functional Textiles for Smart Health” at the Smart Wearable Technology Seminar Series. She introduced Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable System to the participants and shared the latest research of wearable technology developed by members, especially on the health application.   The Smart Wearable Technology Seminar Series was organised by Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) and supported by Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC). It aimed to promote the smart wearable technology to the key stakeholders in the Hong Kong manufacturing industry, upgrade their capabilities and transform them into experts on the development of innovative products.   The two-day seminars included four topics on Industrial Application, Hardware Development and Solution, Market-driven Solution and Application, and App Development & Security held on 24-25 February 2022. A total of eight specialists in hardware and software development was invited to share the fundamental infrastructure of a wearable product.

Prof. Lilly Li’s Team Developed New Far Infrared Fibre

Prof. Lilly Li, a member of RI-IWEAR, has developed a new way of producing fibres that can absorb and emit far-infrared (FIR) radiation more efficiently than conventional methods. The novel technology can be used to produce high-quality, functional apparel and healthcare products. Unlike the traditional method, Prof. Li’s innovative approach is chemical-free. It is more eco-friendly and cost-effective than the traditional one. It works by modifying the structure of the cross-section of man-made fibres from a conventional circular shape to a triangular one, which is significantly better at both FIR absorption and emission.   The innovation has won Prof. Li a Gold Medal and a Special Merit Award (the Best International Invention, National Research Council of Thailand) at the 47th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva 2019 and a Gold Award at the 4th China (Shanghai) International Exhibition of Invention and Innovation 2021.    Please click Excel x Impact Issue 6 to view more detail about the report.

Midstream Research Scheme Funding Secured for Textile Electronic Interaction System

Prof. Xiaoming TAO, Director of RI-IWEAR, and Dr Yang CHAI,  recently have secured  approximately HK$5 million under Midstream Research Programmes for Universities from the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF)  for a 3-year research project entitled “Key Technologies for Textile Electronic Interaction System”.   Human-computer-environment interaction technology has been a recent hot research topic as a result of its applications in smart cities, IoT, AI, VR/AR, and robotics. Interactive textile electronic systems may provide suitable platforms because of their excellent wearable performance and unique immersive features such as lightweight, large-area, handiness, flexibility, comfort, and low strain even under high deformations.   The key to extend the use of these textiles is to develop new technologies for textile-based interaction systems. The project proposes to develop the new technologies by demonstrating prototype system products comprising a modularized fabric display of over 16 million colors, audial communication, fabric keyboard, memory, wireless communication unit and a control unit. In this project, the processing methods for the surface enhancement of flexible fibrous substrates, and fabrication of new double-sided fibrous circuit boards will be investigated. Essential machines and tools will be developed for manufacturing the fabric electronic modules made from electronic yarns, and interconnection between textile electronic modules, as well as determination of processing parameters, quality control methods and procedures. By using the newly developed processes, machines, and tools, Their team will demonstrate novel electronic textile display products for human-computer-environment interaction in smart homes.

Video of RI-IWEAR Broadcast at the 2021 MRS Fall Meeting & Exhibit

The video featuring the research highlights of Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable System is available online at the YouTube Channel WebsEdge Science.   This five-minute video will be broadcast in the daily program called “Thought Leadership” during 2021 Material Research Society (MRS) Fall Meeting & Exhibit.    2021 MRS Fall Meeting & Exhibit meeting is the preeminent annual event for those in the field of materials research, featuring over 50 symposia and attracting 6,000 researchers from every corner of the globe. The meeting will be held on 29 November - 2 December 2021 in Boston and 6-8 December 2021 in the online platform.   This video will be broadcast on screens in high visibility areas throughout the Centre in a compilation of the MRS TV films from 29 November to 2 December and also in the MRS TV program, alongside news and interviews during the conference on 30 November.   Please click here to view more details about 2021 Material Research Society (MRS) Fall Meeting & Exhibit.