Researchers to Develop Specific Strand of Plastic Fiber

No doubt, technology has always been coming up with something new and surprising, but what was least expected, was a new line of fiber that can hum and sing!

Researchers have developed specific strands of plastic fiber to make clothes that can generate electricity, act as a microphone and jingle like a fine tuned guitar. Noémie Chocat a student at MIT said that you can actually hear these fibers and if you connect them to a power supply, you can hear a lot more than mere tunes.

However, these minor tunes are only audible when you bring your ear in close proximity of the fiber. Researchers said that these acoustic fibers are created through a plastic that is used in microphones. The number of fluorine atoms has been maintained in a balanced manner, so that they remain lopsided with other atoms on the fabric.

Chocat said that the asymmetry of fluorine and other combined materials, made the plastic, piezoelectric. It meant that the fiber actually changes shape whenever an electric field is applied to it. So far, only plastic conductors have been used on the newly developed material but attempts are being made to test it on various other levels as well.

Apart from microphones, there are applications of the fibers that are able to add loose nets, which are responsible for monitoring the flow of water in large-area sonar imaging systems as well as ocean. A fabric woven would offer millions of tiny acoustic sensors.

It is hoped by the researchers that they will be able to integrate the properties of their experimental fibers in a single fiber. As a matter of fact, strong vibrations can change properties of a reflecting fiber, due to which fabrics are able to communicate optically.