Source: New ClothMarket

Abstract

Molecularmanufacturing is an emerging technology that is being developed to build largeobjects to atomic precision, quickly and cheaply, with virtually no defects.When it matures, it promises to be an energy efficient and environmentallybenign way to make textiles and textile products. Current efforts to applynanotechnology to textiles promise exciting innovations such as:

• Lightweight nanotube fibers stronger than steel
• Fabrics able to sense temperature and control their breathability
• Clothing able to sense injury and provided immediate delivery of medication to a wounded soldier

However,molecular manufacturing will provide atomic control over the structure of afabric, promising revolutionary changes far beyond current advances:

• A garment could programmably increase or decrease its own size as needed
• A fabric could change its own color and patterns on demand
• The breathability of a textile could be variable and self-regulating
• By integrating molecular robotic components into the material, a fabric could be made to be self-cleaning and self-repairing
• A fabric could be programmed to move on its own accord, creating effects such as a flag flapping even without a breeze
• Molecular fasteners could create new clothing design options for truly seamless garments.
• This paper summarizes recent advances in molecular manufacturing that are enabling the development of this radical new vision for the future of textile design and manufacture.
  
  

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Originally Published in New Cloth Market, Nov-2010