Embedding Conductive Yarns in Textiles: From Plasma Textile Filters to Wireless Power Transfer

Embedding low power electronic devices into textiles for commercial applications has proved challenging due to inherent incompatibilities in material properties and manufacturing. Textiles tend to be flexible, breathable, and passive, while discrete electronic components are rigid and active. Stainless steel yarns combined with non-conducting polymers afford new opportunities to design and construct novel devices. For example, when conductive stainless steel yarns are incorporated into woven or knitted structures, applying an 8kV potential increases the filtration efficiency by 4 to 5 log at the most penetrating particle size by producing a room temperature plasma on the surface. In addition, these filters not only capture but also deactivate viruses and other airborne pathogens. Likewise, incorporating conductive yarns in a circular knit can create an inductive coil that can power or charge devices over a distance of 23 centimeters. The talk will give an overview of some novel applications of combining conductive and non-conductive yarns in knit and woven structures.

Dr. Warren Jasper

Professor, Wilson College of Textiles, Dept. of Textile Engineering, Chemistry, and Science on April 25, 2023 at 12:00 PM in MRC 454

Warren J. Jasper, PhD, PE is a Professor in the Textile Engineering, Chemistry and Science Department at North Carolina State University where he has been since 1991. He received his BS and MS degrees from MIT and his PhDfrom Stanford University in Aeronautics and Astronautics. His research interests include real-time measurement and control of textile processes (fabric manufacturing and dyeing), electrostatic filtration (electrets), cold plasma textile filters, and wireless power transfer. He has authored or co-authored over 70 peer reviewed publications and has written over 50 Linux device drivers for data acquisition boards. He maintains the largest single author repository of open source data acquisition drivers on the internet located at https://github.com/wjasper/Lin ux_Drivers. He currently
teaches courses in automatic control, Six Sigma Quality, analog and digital circuits, and fabric formation (knitting, weaving, and non-wovens). He received the Gertrude Cox Award for innovative excellence in teaching and learning with technology in 2010 and was a recipient of a Fulbright award in 2014 and again in 2019. He was inducted into the Academy of Outstanding Faculty in Extension and Engagement at North Carolina State University in 2019. In 2020, he was awarded a Jefferson Science Fellowship from the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine to work as a senior scientist at the United States Department of State.

ASSIST is developing leading-edge systems for high-value applications such as healthcare and IoT by integrating fundamental advances in energy harvesting, low-power electronics, and sensors with a focus on usability and actionable data.