SBIR Phase I: 3D Printed Clothing Utilizing Novel Techniques in Electrospinning

这个项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是使纺织品，特别是服装原型的新方法成为可能。通过静电纺丝桌面设备实现服装的自动化制造，这项技术可以让更多的人设计和制作服装，就像消费级3D打印机制作其他物品一样。随着相关材料科学在未来几年的发展，这项技术有可能让消费者在家里或公司打印可穿的衣服。随着技术的成熟，这种强大的、特定行业的设备的影响将远远超出服装，包括医药和过滤。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将重点开发一种桌面设备，该设备使用静电纺丝作为一种先进的纺织品原型方法来制作服装。静电纺丝工艺能够使纤维形成独特的三维形状。拟议的第一阶段项目将对静电纺丝工艺进行相当大的改进，使纺织品原型更快、更可靠、更少浪费。它还将支持材料科学工作，以提高电纺丝材料的强度和耐久性，使它们能够令人满意地用作原型纺织材料。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is in enabling a new method of prototyping textiles, particularly clothing. By allowing the automated manufacturing of clothing through an electrospinning desktop device, this technology can empower more people to design and create clothing in the same way consumer 3D printers have done for other objects. As the related material science evolves over the coming years, this technology has the potential to actually allow consumers to print wearable clothes from their home or business. As the technology matures, such robust, industry-specific devices will have impacts well beyond clothing, including medicine and filtration.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will focus on the development a desktop device to make clothing that uses electrospinning as an advanced textile prototyping method. The electrospinning process is capable of conforming fibers onto unique 3D shapes. The proposed Phase I project will make considerable improvements to the electrospinning process so that textile prototyping will be faster, more reliable, and less wasteful. It will also support material science work to increase the strength and durability of electrospun materials such that they can be satisfactorily used as prototyping textile materials.