The popularity of portable electronics has increased dramatically in recent years, particularly in the form of smartwatches. While these devices are typically resistant to water, they certainly do not wash like washing clothes. The engineers of the University of Purdue have developed a new method that transforms the fabric items existing in the wearables without battery resistant to laundry.

Smart clothing feeds wirelessly using a flexible and silk-based coil stitched on the textile. Advancement could mean that clothing in the future becomes smart. The intelligent cloth would exceed conventional passive garments thanks to the miniaturized electrical circuits and the sensors embedded inside. The circuits and sensors would allow perfect communication between the phone, the computer, the car and other machines.

Engineers say that smart clothing could make users more productive, verify their health status and possibly request help in case of an accident. A construction material of a challenge of this type in the past has been that the manufacture of smart clothing is challenging because clothes should be washed periodically, and electronics are usually incompatible with water.

To overcome this obstacle, engineers developed a new method of spray / sewing to transform traditional cloth into wearables without battery that can be cleaned in the washing machine. The equipment was coated with an intelligent cloth with a highly hydrophobic molecule than the water repellent, the oil and the mud. The team says that smart clothing is almost impossible to stain and can be used underwater and washing in conventional washing machines without damaging the electronic components integrated inside them.

Often, portable electronic garments have reduced perspirability, which makes them feel uncomfortable for long-term wear. However, the ultra-thin coating process for new smart clothing makes them as flexible, stretchable and breathable as conventional cotton shirts. Portable electronic clothing purdate engineers created do not need batteries. They are driven by the Wi-Fi energy harvest or radio waves in the environment. The advances of the team are pending patents.