Science Daily  February 21, 2023 Active fabrics, responding autonomously to environmental changes, are the “Holy Grail” of current development of smart textiles. Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) promise to be the base materials for large-stroke reversible actuation. The mechanical behavior of LCEs matches almost exactly the human muscle. Yet, it was not possible to produce filaments from LCEs that would be suitable for standard textile production methods. Based on their recent development of next-generation LCE fibers, an international team of researchers (Finland, UK) has developed a process for producing active fabrics incorporating LCE yarn, woven on a standard loom. Weave density […]