Putting function into fashion: Organic conducting polymer fibres and textiles

Textiles have traditionally been employed over the centuries with great utility in areas as diverse as fashion through to technical textiles. In all these instances the textile itself has been a structural element that once fabricated has limited utility beyond the intended structural and aesthetic application. In recent years there has been a shift towards the incorporation of electronic systems into textile structures. The new paradigm for textiles is the development of systems that not only provide the more traditional aspects of textiles but expands upon this to provide a unique capability to transmit and store information and energy. More importantly these next generation materials will be capable of responding to external stimuli, modifying features of the textile in a direct response to its working environment. A potential route to truly functional electronic textiles is through the application of conducting polymers.