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Phoenix666 writes:

Inspired by Marty McFly's self-lacing Nikes, Associate Professor Jayan Thomas, a nanotechnology scientist at the University of Central Florida's NanoScience Technology Center, developed solar-powered filaments that also store energy and can be woven into textiles.

"That movie was the motivation," Thomas said. "If you can develop self-charging clothes or textiles, you can realize those cinematic fantasies – that's the cool thing."

The smart textiles would act as wearable solar-powered batteries that could charge our devices and carry out different functions themselves thanks to the renewable power source.

The filaments are made from thin copper ribbon with solar cells on one side and an energy storing layer on the other. Using a table top loom, Thomas and his team were able to weave the filaments into a square of yarn. The ease with which they were able to produce a textile with these filaments prove that the smart textile could either be used as a part or make up the entirety of outer layer clothing like jackets to power personal health tracking devices, smartphones and more.

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