Tablets and ereaders are so 2011 -- a global group of material scientists have found a way to turn cotton into transistors and electrical circuits. In the (not so distant) future, Apple's newest product might just be a t-shirt. That might be a bit of fantasy but the science is very real. The group of scientists -- from top universities in Italy, France and America -- created two kinds of transistors, an organic field-effect transistor (OFET) similar to those found in a computer's CPU and a lower-voltage organic electrochemical transistor (OCET), ExtremeTech reported.
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To create the transistors, the group coated cotton threads with gold nanoparticles and a variety of conductors. The process creates cotton that is stiffer than that found in your standard shirt, but more elastic and with ability to carry a current. Best of all, according to the group's research paper, the coating process is not time-consuming and is much like dyeing standard fabrics.
Apparel companies have tried putting electronics into clothing for a long time, whether its light-up graphics or even a functional mini-amp. The paper takes those concepts light-years forward by turning the actual material into a computing matrix. As ExtremeTech points out, most cotton clothing is made of hundreds and hundreds of interconnected threads. The computing possibilities for these transistor threads is off the charts. The real trick will be making sure you keep your wardrobe charged.
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Is computerized cotton the clothing of the future or just a fantasy? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Image courtesy of Flickr, blakespot
This story originally published on Mashable here.
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