2017 Annual Meeting

(648e) Harnessing Multi-Functional Microbial Cells for Designing Sweat-Responsive Bio-Hybrid Wearables

Authors

Wen Wang - Presenter, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Lining Yao, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Chin-Yi Cheng, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Hiroshi Atsumi, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Kang Zhou, National University of Singapore
Chris Wawrousek, New Balance
Katherine Petrecca, New Balance
Angela M. Belcher, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Rohit Karnik, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Daniel I. C. Wang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
We found a variety of microbial cells and their cellular components have hygroscopic behavior. By depositing these biomaterials on top of a humidity-inert film, a multi-layered bio-hybrid material is obtained, which can reversibly change shape and biofluorescence intensity in response to environmental humidity change. We characterized the performance of the film, which guide the design of a wearable running suit and a fluorescent shoe prototype. Those bio-flaps on wearables can dynamically modulate ventilation in synergy with the body’s need for cooling.