Artificial muscles, as the name suggests, can generate contractile force and movement from another source of energy in response to an external stimulus. Moisture-responsive artificial muscles can be manufactured from commodity natural fibers for smart textile applications taking advantage of the anisotropy, low cost and skin comfort of these fibers. Here we prepared water-driven artificial muscles by twisting linen yarns into spring-like cylindrical coils. Structural evolution, including increase in diameter and decrease in length of coils, is identified as a key factor to the actuation performances of the as-fabricated muscles. Artificial muscles with a single helical configuration can generate a large, reversible contraction stroke of about 22.5% and a high gravimetric work capacity during contraction of about 110 J kg ⁻¹ work capacity, which is many times greater than animal skeletal muscles and many synthetic fiber muscles. A torque-balanced double-helix muscle was constructed from the single helical muscle. The double helix showed good reversibility and high retention of contraction stroke (∼16.5%) in cyclic actuation tests. Finally, the as-fabricated water-responsive artificial muscles were used as manipulator arm of a miniature excavator.

Elastomeric, conductive composite yarns have recently received attention around the opportunity for them to offer special protective fields. A straightforward approach for fabricating tri-component elastic-conductive composite yarns (t-ECCYs) containing stainless steel wire (SSW) was proposed previously. This work mainly focuses on the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness (EMSE) of weft-stretchable woven fabric containing t-ECCY over the X-band under different testing conditions, e.g., single step-by-step elongation, cyclic stretch and lamination events. Results showed that a woven cotton fabric with weft yarn of t-ECCY not only exhibited superior weft stretch-ability to a higher elongation (>40%) compared with a pure cotton control but also had an acceptable 15-cyclic stability with 80% shape recovery retention. The t-ECCY weft fabric was effective in shielding electromagnetic radiation, and its EMSE was also enhanced at elevated elongations during stretch at parallel polarization of EM waves. There was also no decay in EMSE before and after the t-ECCY fabric was subject to 15 stretch cycles at extension of 20%. In addition, a 90° by 90° cross lamination of t-ECCY fabric remarkably improved the EMSE compared to a 0°/90° one. The scalable fabrication strategy and excellent EMSE seen in t-ECCY-incorporated fabrics represent a significant step forward in protective fields.

Highly stretchable and conductive yarns have attracted considerable interest as the building blocks for the next generation of wearable textiles. A method for producing tri-component elastic-conductive composite yarns (t-ECCYs) was reported previously. The objectives of this research were to investigate the thermal response and stability of a single t-ECCY, in fabric form, under different voltages and strain loads. The investigation showed that the yarn responded rapidly in terms of thermal response and showed a uniform surface temperature distribution under various applied voltages and strain deformations conditions. The stability of the yarn was also confirmed by alternating voltage on–off cycles. The performances of the yarn both in static and dynamic modes demonstrated its potentials in applying specific but uniform heat to garments. The results indicated that the t-ECCY-decorated knit fabrics were not only suitable for functions such as displaying and local heating, but also possessed good cyclic stability with little degradation in their functional properties after 50 cyclic, expand–release strain tests. The straightforward fabrication and excellent multifunctional features of the yarn represent a significant step forward in the further design and development of topologically complex, stretchable and wearable heating electronics.

Stretchable and conductive yarns spun on traditional ring spinning frames are promising candidates for applications in wearable devices. A scalable approach for manufacturing multifunctional tri-component elastic-conductive composite yarns (t-ECCYs) has been reported previously. In this study, the effect of the elastane draw ratio upon the physical and conductive properties of the resulting yarns was investigated. It was found that the tensile characteristics of t-ECCYs were primarily dependent upon the spinning settings, especially the draft applied to the elastane filament, which exerted a highly vital effect. Tensile characteristics increased sharply with an initial increase in elastane draft up to 3, beyond which they increased only marginally. Significant alternations in yarns' tensile behavior incorporating different elastane drafts were established. Weibull statistics and box–whisker plots were used to quantify the variability in strength. The role of spinning geometries and different elastane drafts on the yarn hair formation were also highlighted. The results indicated that increasing the elastane draft increased yarn hairiness. It is the distinctive configuration of the yarn's material constituents (the elastane) and the draft applied to elastane that are responsible for the exceptional stretchability of t-ECCYs. With variable thermal-conductive characteristics under different amounts of stretch, the t-ECCYs, which can be industrially woven or knitted, hold tremendous prospects for the wearable electronics or portable electrical devices.

We developed an innovative and green deep eutectic solvent (DES)–NaOH hybrid system for the highly efficient separation of polyester/cotton blends, providing a sustainable solution for textile recycling.

The strain-dependent vertical and horizontal wicking of as-prepared cotton/lycra elastic woven fabric was systematically studied. The experimental results revealed that the fabric exhibited a strain strengthening effect. A higher tensile strain results in a higher equilibrium wicking height, and vice versa . Moreover, the results indicated that the proposed Laughlin–Davies model is capable of tracking well the experimental data and replicating the wicking characteristics of fabric under different levels of stretch. In addition, the wetting time and wicking area of fabric under different strains and height regimes were examined during horizontal wicking. It was found that the wetting time decreased with an increase of strain and/or water drop height. The strain-enhanced and height-weakened effects of wicking area were revealed. The spreading mechanism of water drop in elastic fabric was also proposed. Such fundamental work provides a basic support for the in-depth investigation of wicking behavior of complex stretchable textile structures.