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New fabric decontaminates itself
March 1st, 2024
A glove made by Rice University researchers uses Joule heating to kill viruses without burning the user’s skin. Image: Rice University Rice University researchers have created a material that could enhance personal protective equipment (PPE)—a composite textile that decontaminates itself, killing at least 99.9% of coronaviruses. The textile-based material uses Joule heating, a process where […]
Textile-based device delivers haptic feedback
January 1st, 2024
Each sleeve contains six quarter- sized pouches that inflate with varying force and frequency to deliver haptic cues, such as vibrations, tapping or squeezing. Images: Rice University/Brandon Martin Devices that use haptics, or communication based on touch, usually require bulky hardware, making them inconvenient to use. Researchers at Rice University in Houston, Texas, have found […]
Self-rising hoodie
November 1st, 2022
A self infalting hoodie works without electronics and may help people with disabilities. Photo: Dan Preston A Rice University mechanical engineer has created a hoodie jacket that can raise and lower its own hood at the push of a button without electronics. The hoodie does not contain an Arduino or any semiconductor chips. It has no […]
Getting their game on
March 1st, 2022
Photo: © Igor Mojzes, www.dreamstime.com. It’s no longer enough for athleticwear to look good and be comfortable. Instead, athletes increasingly have higher expectations of their garments, looking for multifunctional wearables with enhanced properties that can actually help improve their performance, in some cases delivering that all-important winning edge. This is certainly becoming the norm for […]
Carbon nanotube fibers used in new ‘smart shirt’
December 1st, 2021
A Rice University lab has developed a new technology for creating a health monitoring shirt using flexible, conductive nanotube thread to weave functionality into regular apparel. The university’s Brown School of Engineering lab of chemical and biomolecular engineer Matteo Pasquali report that the lab sewed nanotube fibers into athletic wear to monitor the heart rate […]
Polymer mat destroys water pollutants
June 1st, 2018
It’s called bait, hook and destroy, a process that removes pollutants from water. While it sounds dramatic, the process is achieved using a polymer mat that can target harmful contaminants and fish them out. Developed by scientists at the Rice University-led Nanotechnology-Enabled Water Treatment (NEWT) Center, the mat employs titanium dioxide, a common material used […]