A soft, cloth-like material that generates electricity from motion — no batteries required. With high crystallinity and built-in electroactive properties, this low-cost “electric fabric” could power next-generation wearable health sensors, smart masks, and flexible electronics.
A research team from Penn State has developed a novel fabrication method that fine-tunes the internal structure of electrospun fibers, significantly boosting their performance in electronic applications. The material, composed of electrospun polymer nanofibers, exhibits exceptional crystallinity and strong electroactive properties. By using low molecular weight polyvinylidene fluoride–trifluoroethylene (P(VDF-TrFE), about 100 kDa) combined with a precisely balanced solvent mixture, the team employed a high-voltage electrospinning process to create continuous fibers only a few hundred nanometers thick. These fibers are then collected into a soft, cloth-like mat ideal for wearable and flexible electronics.
No additional high-voltage treatment or complex post-processing is required — the electrospinning naturally aligns the molecular chains into a ferroelectric all-trans conformation, with crystallinity reaching up to 67% and polar alignment as high as 79%. The structure is about 70% porous, offering room for further densification to boost performance.
The new material is self-powered, converting mechanical motion — such as body movement or breathing — into electricity through the piezoelectric effect. It is comfortable and flexible, with a textile-like texture that makes it suitable for long-term wear. Its low-cost, scalable production process eliminates the need for expensive post-processing, allowing manufacturers to create large-area sheets rather than small films. Performance can be precisely tuned by adjusting polymer concentration and spinning parameters to control fiber diameter and crystallinity. Additionally, its highly sensitive porous structure can be optimized to boost energy harvesting and signal output.
For wearable health tech, this could be a game-changer. Imagine garments that continuously monitor heart rate, respiration, or movement — without requiring batteries or charging. The technology could also be integrated into smart masks that detect respiratory patterns, or into sportswear that tracks performance metrics. Because the process works at room temperature and uses commercially available equipment, manufacturers could integrate this material into existing textile production lines. This opens doors not just for healthcare, but also for defense uniforms with embedded sensors, environmental monitoring fabrics, or even energy-harvesting tents and upholstery.
