Smart textiles consist of discrete devices fabricated from—or incorporated onto—fibres. Despite the tremendous progress in smart textiles for lighting/display applications, a large scale approach for a smart display system with integrated multifunctional devices in traditional textile platforms has yet to be demonstrated. Here we report the realisation of a fully operational 46-inch smart textile lighting/display system consisting of RGB fibrous LEDs coupled with multifunctional fibre devices that are capable of wireless power transmission, touch sensing, photodetection, environmental/biosignal monitoring, and energy storage. The smart textile display system exhibits full freedom of form factors, including flexibility, bendability, and rollability as a vivid RGB lighting/grey-level-controlled full colour display apparatus with embedded fibre devices that are configured to provide external stimuli detection. Our systematic design and integration strategies are transformational and provide the foundation for realising highly functional smart lighting/display textiles over large area for revolutionary applications on smart homes and internet of things (IoT).

The outcomes of the electrospinning of polyamide 6 (PA6) solutions in formic acid containing FeCl3 are correlated with the extensional rheological behaviour of these fluids, which is investigated by the self-controlled capillary breakup of a filament. The rheological analysis enlightens a significant effect of the FeCl3 content on the rheological behaviour, the viscous component becoming predominant over a certain salt content threshold. At this concentration, the electrospun fibres show the formation of severely inhomogeneous structures this indicating that an elastically dominated behaviour is necessary to yield defect-free fibres. Addition of FeCl3 also decreases fibre crystallinity and fibres turn out to be completely amorphous above a critical concentration. Interestingly, this concentration coincides with the one at which the viscous component starts dominating the rheological behaviour.

Defect-free and highly homogeneous polyaniline (PANI)-Nylon 6 electrospun nanofibers are obtained through a solvent-induced segregation of N-phenyl-1,4-phenylenediamine (ADPA) on a fiber surface followed by an oxidative surface polymerization onto a wire-shaped template. Different oxidation salts are tested both as additives of the spinning solutions and in a polymerization bath. Comparison between mats obtained with a solvent induced segregation process and classical feed solution electrospinning is highlighted. As a result, self-standing emeraldine base PANI (EB) membranes are produced both in this pristine state and in a doped emeraldine salt state (ES). The doping process is carried out in different acid baths, namely hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and p-toluene sulphonic acid, the last being the most effective. Wire-shaped PANI membranes are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the polymerization/doping states of PANI are monitored step by step by UV-vis reflectance spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and contact angle measurements (CA).