Abstract
This paper details a decentralized, open-source manufacturing framework designed to produce structural textiles and metal-free electrical circuits using public-domain chemistry and low-cost, unregulated hardware. The platform utilizes expired late-nineteenth and early-twentieth-century patent methodologies, optimizing them for domestic, kitchen-scale replication with non-toxic, food-safe components. The primary structural substrate is derived from the acid-precipitation of casein proteins from dairy fractions, which are solubilized in a mild alkali solution to form a viscous spinning dope. To address the historical dependency on toxic cross-linkers like formaldehyde, this framework introduces three accessible micro-extrusion methodologies that utilize a non-toxic, ten percent aqueous potassium alum bath: (1) a multi-pore vitrified ceramic spinneret, (2) adapted brass micro-nozzles from additive manufacturing, and (3) a modified wet centrifugal jet-spinning apparatus based on commercial countertop cotton candy machinery. The alum bath serves a triple function as a flash-precipitant, an ionic cross-linker utilizing trivalent aluminum ions to establish structural fiber modulus, and a textile dye mordant. To embed digital logic and resistive Joule-heating elements into the textile matrix without using metallic components, an in-situ molecular doping protocol is introduced. Crystalline graphite or sub-micron carbon black is compounded into the liquid alkaline casein dope at a forty to forty-five percent dry-weight loading ratio to exceed the electrical percolation threshold. When drawn under constant tension via a manual mechanical take-up drum, the resulting monofilaments display predictable ohmic density, functioning as flexible circuit traces. These conductive fibers are integrated into a coordinate-grid array on a manual rigid heddle loom, woven alongside insulating greenhouse-grown flax or hemp yarns. Intersecting nodes form a variable resistor matrix that serves as a flexible, compression-activated digital touch interface. Finally, this paper provides a comprehensive risk analysis detailing thermal runaway mitigation, hydrophobic sealing techniques using natural beeswax, and environmental remediation via a closed-loop chemical crystallization recycling process. This methodology demonstrates a viable, non-hazardous, low-labor paradigm for subsistence-level electronic textile fabrication.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Durdle, Natalie M. Miss, "Biopolymer Fibre Production and Metal Free Circuitry", Technical Disclosure Commons, ()
https://www.tdcommons.org/dpubs_series/10245