Microfiber weaving

Weaving, enjoying a long history dating back to the Stone Age, is a fundamental technique of preparing 2D and 3D fabrics from 1D fibers. This process transforms individual fibers into assembled structures with expanded dimensions and unique mechanical properties, broadening their applications across diverse fields such as clothing, industrial belts, and medical bandages. The demonstrated benefits from macroscopic woven fabrics motivates the creation of similar structures at smaller length scales as emerging platforms for next generation technologies. To achieve this goal, we prepare several types of stimuli-responsive microfibers from soft lithography, i.e. pH and electric field responsive poly(acrylic acid) copolymer microfibers, solvent responsive poly(dimethylsiloxane) microfibers, temperature responsive poly(diethylacrylamide) microfibers, magnetic particle doped microfibers, and conductive filler doped microfibers. We describe the use of multi-field responsive histories to enable the creation of microfiber woven structures and use custom-built characterization equipment to measure their mechanical response. The resulting woven microstructures exhibit enhanced mechanical properties, including lower stiffness and higher stretchability. When combined with the intrinsic stimuli-responsiveness of the microfibers, these improvements open up new possibilities in the realms of e-skin and e-textiles, promising advancements in wearable technology and smart fabrics.