Particle Flow Spinning Mass-Manufactured Stretchable Magnetic Yarn for Self-Powered Mechanical Sensing

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2022 Jan 12;14(1):2113-2121. doi: 10.1021/acsami.1c22267. Epub 2021 Dec 30.

Abstract

Self-powered fabric electronic devices are critical for next-generation wearable technologies, biomedical applications, and human-machine interfaces. The flexible magnetoelectric strategy is an emerging self-powered approach that can adapt to diverse environments and yield efficient electric outputs. However, there is an urgent need to develop a continuous manufacturing method for fabricating self-powered sensing magnetoelectric yarns with a high magnetic powder ratio and resistance to severe surroundings. In this study, we report particle flow spinning mass-manufactured magnetoelectric yarns for self-powered mechanical sensing. It has been shown that mechanical stretching/bending forces can be sensed and recognized by magnetoelectric yarns without an additional power supply. Through a combination of parameter optimization experiments and Maxwell modeling, we reveal the mechanism behind this mechanical-to-electric conversion capability. We further show that these self-powered sensing magnetoelectric yarns can monitor human motions after being attached to texture clothing. We expect that our results will stimulate further research on fabric electronics in a self-powered manner and will substantially advance the field.

Keywords: magnetic; mechanical sensing; particle flow spinning; self-powered; yarns.