A research team from theNational University of Singapore (NUS)已经使用3D打印来制作一种新颖的薄膜，该薄膜可以有效地从人类皮肤上蒸发出汗水，该薄膜是为诸如腋下垫，鞋垫和鞋衬里等应用而设计的。
The researchers have also demonstrated how the moisture absorbed by the film can be harnessed to power wearable electronic devices such as watches and fitness trackers.
“汗水主要由水组成。当水从皮肤表面蒸发时，它会降低皮肤温度，我们感觉更凉爽。“在我们的新发明中，我们制作了一部新颖的电影，该电影在从皮肤上蒸发出汗水，然后吸收汗水中的水分非常有效。
“我们还将这一步骤进一步 - 通过将水分从汗水转化为可用于为小型可穿戴设备供电的能量。”
3D printing the film
研究人员从两种吸湿性化学物质，氯化钴和乙醇胺中构建了膜，它们可以吸引和固定从周围环境中吸收的水分子。据该团队称，吸收水分的3D印刷膜的水分含量比可比的传统材料快6倍。
As moisture is absorbed, the film changes color from blue to purple, and then to pink, in order to give an indication of the amount of water absorption that has taken place. When exposed to sunlight, the film can rapidly release the absorbed water and regenerate itself in able to be reused more than a hundred times.
To demonstrate the applications of the film, the researchers integrated it into polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes, which are commonly used in clothing, and created an underarm pad, shoe lining, and shoe insole.
“The prototype for the shoe insole was created using 3D printing,” said research team co-leader Professor Ding Jun, also of NUS. “The material used is a mixture of soft polymer and hard polymer, thus providing sufficient support and shock absorption.”
Ching added: “Using the underarm pad, shoe lining, and shoe insole embedded with the moisture-absorbing film, the moisture from sweat evaporation is rapidly taken in, preventing an accumulation of sweat and provides a dry and cool microclimate for personal comfort.”
Powering wearable electronics
Taking their development one step further, the researchers looked for a way to make full use of the sweat harnessed by the film. To do this, they designed and created a wearable energy harvesting device made up of eight electrochemical cells (ECs), within which they used the 3D printed film as an electrolyte.
吸收水分后，每个EC可能会产生约0.57伏的电力，并且总共产生了足够的能量来为发光二极管供电。根据该团队的说法，这项概念验证示范可能为功能性服装，鞋类和可穿戴电子产品领域内的“巨大经济潜力”铺平道路。
Further details of the study can be found in the paper titled,“Super-hygroscopic film for wearables with dual functions of expediting sweat evaporation and energy harvesting”, in the Nano Energy journal. The paper is co-authored by X. Zhang, J. Yang, R. Borayek, H. Qu, D. Nandakumar, Q. Zhang, J. Ding, and S. Tan.
3D printing wearable technology
3D printing has been involved in the design and creation of wearable technology devices and garmentsfor some time now, and there have been a number of innovative developments in this area in past years, particularly in garments that are able to respond to their environments.
Back in 2015, 3D printing was employed in the creation of a helmet thatchanges shape in response to the wearer’s brainwaves, the aim of which was to explore the combination of multi-material printing and wearables that respond to neural commands from the brain. A few months later, a couple ofMITdesigners used FDM to create a3D printed shoe that changes shape响应佩戴者的刺激。
最近，已经探索了3D打印作为生产电子可穿戴设备（例如手表和健身追踪器）的潜在方法。
In 2017, a research group from theNational Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology(NIIST) investigated3D printed flexible electronicsfor use in remote locations, with the goal of creating a wearable antenna that can be embedded in the jackets of soldiers to communicate health data. Meanwhile, researchers of theCleaner Electronics Research Groupat Brunel University London3D printed a low cost, flexible batterythat could be worked into a wearable silicone band, deemed the first time a flexible supercapacitor had been wholly produced by 3D printing.
Elsewhere, researchers fromSungkyunkwan Universityhave 3D printed wearable medical biosensors for personalized health monitoring, while theCentre for Additive Manufacturingat the University of Nottinghamrecently made a breakthroughin the study of 3D printing electronics with graphene.
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特色图像显示了鞋鞋底原型，该原型涂有新的薄膜，从蓝色变为粉红色，因为它吸收了水分。图像通过nus。
