Textile artificial muscles were developed using weaving to increase the force and knitting to amplify the strain.

A flexible electronic paper in full color is realized by plasmonic metasurfaces with conjugated polymers. An ultrathin large-area electrochromic material is presented which provides high polarization-independent reflection, strong contrast, fast response time, and long-term stability. This technology opens up for new electronic readers and posters with ultralow power consumption.

Funding Agencies|Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research; Chalmers Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Area of Advance

Two self-doped conjugated polyelectrolytes, having semiconducting and metallic behaviors, respectively, have been blended from aqueous solutions in order to produce materials with enhanced optical and electrical properties. The intimate blend of two anionic conjugated polyelectrolytes combine the electrical and optical properties of these, and can be tuned by blend stoichiometry. In situ conductance measurements have been done during doping of the blends, while UV−vis and EPR spectroelectrochemistry allowed the study of the nature of the involved redox species. We have constructed an accumulation/depletion mode organic electrochemical transistor whose characteristics can be tuned by balancing the stoichiometry of the active material.

This paper reports results on ionic EAP micromuscles converting electrical into micromechanical response in open‐air. Translation of small ion motion into large deformation in bending microactuator and its amplification by fundamental resonant frequency are used as tools to demonstrate that small ion vibrations can still occur at frequency as high as 1000 Hz in electrochemical devices. These results are achieved through the microfabrication of ultrathin conducting polymer microactuators. First, the synthesis of robust interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) is combined with a spincoating technique in order to tune and drastically reduce the thickness of conducting IPN microactuators using a so‐called “trilayer” configuration. Patterning of electroactive materials as thin as 6 μm is demonstrated with existing technologies, such as standard photolithography and dry etching. Electrochemomechanical characterizations of the micrometer sized beams are presented and compared to existing model. Moreover, thanks to downscaling, large displacements under low voltage stimulation (±4 V) are reported at a frequency as high as 930 Hz corresponding to the fundamental eigenfrequency of the microbeam. Finally, conducting IPN microactuators are then presenting unprecedented combination of softness, low driving voltage, large displacement, and fast response speed, which are the keys for further development to develop new MEMS.

geotextiles, airbags, safety belts, reinforcements for composites, many types of medical implants, etc.). A paradigm has for long been that among technical artefacts [4] textiles are passive (no need for power to perform its function), which could be compared with items from other technical spheres such as computers, radios, or cars, that are regarded as active, i.e., needing power, electrical, or otherwise, to perform their function. The dichotomy passiveactive is often used in electronics [5,6] and control theory to classify components. Passive components [7] (conductors, chassis, resistors, etc.) are those that are not intended to impact any signal or energy transferred through it, whereas active ones (batteries, fans, storage device, transistors, diodes, integrated circuits, etc.) are there exactly for doing this. The smart textile community is at a meeting point between textiles and electronics and the distinction of active and passive as used in electronics is mixed with a general common-language one, where active means "doing something." Any mechanical impact on the surrounding, such as moving a mass spatially, is deemed to exert work, i.e., utilize energy. In this text we stipulate as active such artefacts that are able to move any masses, either of the artefact itself or outside of it. As more and more instances accumulate showing that also textile artefacts could be given this property, also textiles are entering into the domain of being regarded as active. In retrospect, there are some early examples of what today could be defined as active textiles. One such example is the Ventile fabric [8] from the 1940s that was used as a waterproof protecting layer. This fabric operated by the swelling ability of cotton yarn hindering water to penetrate beyond the amount used for the very swelling. However, it was not until the 1980s that textiles-especially garments-were "discovered" as a potential arena for enrichment by other kinds of technologies such as sensorics for measuring the wearer as well as monitoring the surrounding. These have interchangeably been denoted as smart textiles, [9] intelligent textiles, [10] or electronic textiles. [11] This "(re)discovery" of textiles as an interesting field for new technical developments is in parallel with the "(re)discovery" of paper, which, although started later moved at a faster pace and printed electronics, [12] paper electronics, [13] or smart papers [14] now have emerged as branches on their own. Both textiles and papers are polymeric, fiber-based, cheap, pliable, flexible, large area (semi) 2D materials that take part in everyday activities of humans and by this being ubiquitous ever present. Textiles and papers have their respective benefits; textiles for Smart textiles have been around for some decades. Even if interactivity is central to most definitions, the emphasis so far has been on the stimuli/ input side, comparatively little has been reported on the responsive/output part. This study discusses the actuating, mechanical, output side in what could be ...