Wouldn’t it be great if we could recycle all those old clothes lying in the back of our wardrobes, turning them into flexible batteries? By dipping fabric into an ink comprised of carbon nanotubes, their electrical properties are transferred over.
It’s being worked on by some Stanford University scientists, and follows their efforts in turning paper electrical. Because of the nature of fabric, it’s still flexible and can even be washed in water without affecting the carbon nanotubes residing in the fibers.
At its present state, it can’t do much, but the Stanford University bods will be working on it some more to actually turn it into a functioning battery, or even solar panel apparel. If they can make a hoodie that charges your smartphone as you’re in the sun, that’d solve a lot of problems. [BBC]
