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Badawy, Dina

University of British Columbia

Sensing mechanical deformation in real-time has numerous end-use applications, including reducing the risk of structural failure and enhancing medical care. Textile materials are used in all life aspects, making them an excellent platform for designing real-time sensing materials. Nanomaterials have superior properties; they have lightweight and enhanced properties compared to bulk materials; thus, they can add functionality to yarns. Fabrication of a multifunctional yarn that possesses structural and sensing properties, utilizing Zinc Oxide nanowires (ZnO NWs), has been introduced in the literature, yet, studying the process step by step, from the growth of nanowires on the fibers to the incorporation into a weave, is not well understood. The research presented in this dissertation focuses on advancing the understanding of fabricating a multifunctional yarn based on adding a functional element (ZnO NWs, which have piezoelectric properties) to the yarn body and studying its characterizations. ZnO NWs were radially grown using hydrothermal growth methods on yarns. The study of the growth parameters influence on the NWs aspect ratio showed that equilibrium precursor concentration is not necessarily the best combination for NW growth. By increasing the precursor concentration ratio from 1:1 to 3:1, the growth time was significantly reduced from 9 h to 3 h to produce ZnO NWs with a length of ~ 3 µm and a diameter of ~ 100 nm. Then the as-grown ZnO NWs/Yarn was to be encapsulated in a protective layer using two encapsulation approaches (dip-coating and spin-coating). The hybrid yarn (HY) piezoelectric performance showed that the dip-coated method gave stable electrical charge output. The fabricated HY's electrical, mechanical and physical properties were investigated. The electrical performance results indicate that the HY showed sensitivity to load changes (0.1 N compression load increment for an active area of 2.7 mm²). A smart plain weave was made using the HY, which showed sensitivity to load mapping, finger tapping, biaxial loading, vibration, and human body motions. In conclusion, the smart textile fabrics based on composite yarn can capture changes in pressure applied at the woven fabric in real-time, which can be utilized for several end-use applications.

Text

2025-04-30

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/84540

Materials Engineering

University of British Columbia

UBCV

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/