Textile muscle fibres innervated by ionofibres: connecting doped conducting polymers and ionogels via a plain weave
Abstract
Advances in combining soft electromechanically active polymers with textiles at the fibre and yarn levels of the textile hierarchy contribute to the development of textile actuators or, by borrowing terms from physiology, of textile muscles. Textile muscle fibres, made by continuous electropolymerisation of pyrrole (Py) onto polyamide 6/6 multifilaments coated with poly(3-4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), are able to perform shortening, isometric, and lengthening contractions in liquid electrolytes and withstand the fabric manufacturing processes. To date, the contractile performance in liquid electrolytes of these textile muscle fibres, dependent on electrochemically driven volume change, has yet to be translated to in air as part of a fabric. Therefore, textile muscle fibres are explored as a fundamental unit of textile muscles together with ionofibres for their innervation. Ionofibres, continuously produced by UV polymerisation of ionogel precursors onto the surface of polyamide 6/6 multifilaments, are used to interlace closely with the textile muscle fibres and act as ion source/sink during the electrochemical processes. Their close contacts in a fabric enable the textile muscle fibres to contract in air under electrical stimuli. Regarding the ionofibres, two ionogels based on either 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate (EMIm + OTf − ) entrapped in a polythioether network or choline acetate (Chol + OAc − ) entrapped in a poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) network are explored. All the different produced fibres are evaluated individually in terms of electrical conductivity, tensile properties, and, for the textile muscle fibres, contractile properties. The investigation of the contractile properties includes repeated stimuli of yarn samples in individual warp rib structures with multiple signal frequencies and shapes. This contribution evaluates textile muscle fibres during contractions in air within a weave, representing for such fibres the first demonstration of actuation in ambient air. Beyond this milestone, the study seeks to identify critical manufacturing bottlenecks that limit realistic applications, establishing a foundation for developing practical textile muscles through standardised characterisation.
Related
- Doping-Induced Electronic Dimensional Crossover and Anisotropic Thermopower in Conducting Polymers
- Interpreting the Hall effect of highly doped conducting polymers
- Conducting Polymers in Electrolyte and Separator Engineering for Zn-Ion Hybrid Capacitors
- Advances on doping strategies and emerging applications of organic (semi)conducting polymers
- Polymer-Engineered Ionogels for Lithium-Based Energy Storage: Interactions, Processing, and Electrode Interfaces
BibTeX
@article{huniade2026textile,
title = {{Textile muscle fibres innervated by ionofibres: connecting doped conducting polymers and ionogels via a plain weave}},
author = {Claude Huniade and Jose Martinez and Marie Ekstedt Bjersing and Cédric Vancaeyzeele and Giao T-M Nguyen and Cédric Plesse and Edwin Jager and Nils-Krister Persson},
journal = {Smart Materials and Structures},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.1088/1361-665x/ae8349},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05768994v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Textile muscle fibres innervated by ionofibres: connecting doped conducting polymers and ionogels via a plain weave
AU - Claude Huniade
AU - Jose Martinez
AU - Marie Ekstedt Bjersing
AU - Cédric Vancaeyzeele
AU - Giao T-M Nguyen
AU - Cédric Plesse
AU - Edwin Jager
AU - Nils-Krister Persson
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/13
JO - Smart Materials and Structures
DO - 10.1088/1361-665x/ae8349
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05768994v1
AB - Advances in combining soft electromechanically active polymers with textiles at the fibre and yarn levels of the textile hierarchy contribute to the development of textile actuators or, by borrowing terms from physiology, of textile muscles. Textile muscle fibres, made by continuous electropolymerisation of pyrrole (Py) onto polyamide 6/6 multifilaments coated with poly(3-4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT), are able to perform shortening, isometric, and lengthening contractions in liquid electrolytes and withstand the fabric manufacturing processes. To date, the contractile performance in liquid electrolytes of these textile muscle fibres, dependent on electrochemically driven volume change, has yet to be translated to in air as part of a fabric. Therefore, textile muscle fibres are explored as a fundamental unit of textile muscles together with ionofibres for their innervation. Ionofibres, continuously produced by UV polymerisation of ionogel precursors onto the surface of polyamide 6/6 multifilaments, are used to interlace closely with the textile muscle fibres and act as ion source/sink during the electrochemical processes. Their close contacts in a fabric enable the textile muscle fibres to contract in air under electrical stimuli. Regarding the ionofibres, two ionogels based on either 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate (EMIm + OTf − ) entrapped in a polythioether network or choline acetate (Chol + OAc − ) entrapped in a poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) network are explored. All the different produced fibres are evaluated individually in terms of electrical conductivity, tensile properties, and, for the textile muscle fibres, contractile properties. The investigation of the contractile properties includes repeated stimuli of yarn samples in individual warp rib structures with multiple signal frequencies and shapes. This contribution evaluates textile muscle fibres during contractions in air within a weave, representing for such fibres the first demonstration of actuation in ambient air. Beyond this milestone, the study seeks to identify critical manufacturing bottlenecks that limit realistic applications, establishing a foundation for developing practical textile muscles through standardised characterisation.
SN - 0964-1726
SN - 1361-665X
ER -