Scientists Made Transistors Out Of Cotton Fibers

No more additional sensors or circuits need to-be added over garments to add any electronic circuit capabilities to garments, as researchers from U.S, Italy, and France have invented transistors made from cotton fibers. According to #-Link-Snipped-#, an EE professor at the University of Cagliari, in Italy, whose student Giorgio Mattana worked on the electronic cotton, the process of creating the electronic cotton isn't complicated at all and it is more or less like dying the material.

Giorgia Mattana and the team conducted the research under #-Link-Snipped-#, Textiles Nanotechnology Laboratory at Cornell University, in Ithaca, N.Y. Hinestroza, who has received over 5.2 MM USD in research funding for his pioneering work in exploring new tracts for creating multifunctional fibers through manipulation of nano scale phenomena, was very fascinated about this project.  "We want to create a seamless interface between electronics and textiles," says Hinestroza.

In common, the cellulose which makes up the cotton were insulators, so to turn them into a conductive fiber, the team coated each strand with gold nanoparticles. Then the team added a thin layer of PEDOT, a conductive polymer which is optically transparent in its conducting state, over gold coated fiber. Now, the team was done with creating a conducting cotton fiber. Also, according to the team this conducting cotton has hundred times more conductivity than plain cotton, with almost no change with their mechanical property.

The team then created semiconductor out of conductive cotton strands, but in two different way to make two types of transistors: an #-Link-Snipped-# and an organic Field Effect Transistor. In both the process a conductive cotton strand needs to be  dipped into a semiconducting polymer to create a semiconductor, but with an additional coating of a thin polymer film that acts as a dielectric, followed by a coat of #-Link-Snipped-# needed in making organic field-effect transistor.

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Photo: Textiles Nanotechnology Laboratoryat Cornell University

The speed of electrons in these cotton transistors were relatively slower compared to the conventional silicon transistors. So, for now, we can't dream anything bigger with these transistors but it could open up a new stream of applications like in firefighters' uniforms to detect dangerous chemicals, to monitor heart rate or perspiration and also to keep track of weather and allergens in home or office.