Highly flexible nanoribbon fabric made from ceramic, metal and polymer to be used in flexible electronics, optics, and reinforcements, has been developed by Professor Alfred J Crosby and his team at the Polymer Science and Engineering Department of University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherts.

Professor Alfred J Crosby told fibre2fashion, “Nanoribbon fabrics are materials comprised of ribbon-like arrangements of nanoparticles, which are smaller than 10nm in diameter.”

“These nanoparticles can be made from ceramic, metal or polymer, depending on the balance of other properties that we would like to achieve,” he adds.

He further informs, “The nanoparticles are linked together through a chemical reaction, after they are arranged into the ribbons using an evaporation technique.”

Talking about its significance, Professor Alfred says, “They are extremely flexible, similar to many biological molecules, yet very robust.”

“They can bring fabric-like properties to a variety of materials, like semi-conductors and metals, which typically cannot be processed in traditional fabrics,” he continues.

According to the Professor, nanoribbon fabrics can be used in flexible electronics, optics and reinforcements.