Original article

Textile Research Journal

2014, Vol. 84(15) 1600–1611

Auxetic materials and their potential ! The Author(s) 2014

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applications in textiles DOI: 10.1177/0040517512449051
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Zhengyue Wang and Hong Hu

Abstract
Auxetic materials are a kind of non-conventional materials having negative Poisson’s ratio. They laterally expand when
stretched or laterally shrink when compressed. Compared to conventional materials, auxetic materials have a number of
enhanced properties that could be very interesting for some special applications. This paper reviews the latest achieve-
ments in auxetic materials, including their properties, structures and applications. A special discussion on their potential
applications in textiles is also made. It is expected that this review could provide some useful information for the future
development of auxetic textile materials.

Keywords
negative Poisson’s ratio, auxetic material, auxetic textiles, geometrical arrangement

Most materials exhibit a positive Poisson’s ratio, that found to have good potential uses. Compared to con-
is, they laterally shrink when stretched (Figure 1(a)) or ventional materials, auxetic materials possess some
expand when compressed (Figure 1(c)). On the con- enhanced properties, such as shear resistance,22,23
trary, auxetic materials exhibit a negative Poisson’s indentation resistance,24,25 synclastic curvature,26
ratio (NPR), that is, they laterally expand when crashworthiness,27 sound absorption,28–30 etc. These
stretched (Figure 1(b)) or laterally shrink when com- enhanced properties make the auxetic materials very
pressed (Figure 1(d)). In the 1800 s, Voigt1 and others attractive for many potential applications, such as per-
had already discovered the auxetic or NPR effect in sonnel protection,31 military use,32 biomedicine,26,33,34
some materials. At that time, auxetic materials were aerospace35,36 and textiles.31,37
only limited to natural materials and did not draw This paper reviews the latest research achievements
too much attention. In 1987, Lakes2 first reported an in auxetic materials, including their properties, struc-
auxetic foam structure that could easily be manufac- tures and applications. A special discussion on their
tured by tri-compression and heating process. His potential applications in textiles is also made. It is
work showed that auxetic materials could also be expected that this review could provide some useful
obtained in a man-made way. After that, more scien- information for the future development of auxetic tex-
tists began to research auxetic materials. To date, many tile materials.
auxetic materials have been found or manufactured
(Table 1), including foams,2–4 composites,5–7 crys-
tals,8–11 metals,12 ceramics,13 etc. For convenience,
Evans et al.14 named this kind of material ‘auxetics’
in 1991, which is commonly used today. Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University,
With development, auxetic materials have exceeded Hong Kong
the isotropic and macro-scale limit and have been
Corresponding author:
extended to both the isotropic and anisotropic, ranging Hong Hu, Institute of Textiles and Clothing, The Hong Kong Polytechnic
from macro- to nano-scales. Some large auxetic mater- University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
ials15–17 and molecular auxetic materials18–21 have been Email: [email protected]
Wang and Hu 1601

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 1. Stretch/compression behavior of materials: (a)/(c) conventional materials; (b)/(d) auxetic materials.

measured in some directions and its NPR value was rela-

Table 1. Some auxetic materials found or manufactured tively high (0.5).9 The models, such as ‘rotation of rigid
units’, ‘rotating rectangles’10 and ‘the rotation, dilation
Poisson’s
or concurrent rotation and dilation of the tetrahe-
Materials ratio Investigator
dral’,11,42,43 were proposed to explain its auxetic behav-
Iron pyrites –0.14 Love12 ior based on the molecular framework analysis and
PU foams –0.70 Lakes2 nano-level deformation of the silicate.10
Silicate a-cristobalite –0.50 Haeri9 Zeolites are another important kind of natural auxe-
Zeolites –0.12 Grima41 tic materials. Grima et al.44 first predicted the NPR of
Polytetrafluoroethylene –12.00 Caddock and Evans15 zeolites by using force-field-based molecular modeling.
Ultra-high molecular-weight –19.00 Alderson and Evans16
Based on the model and mechanism study,41 the auxetic
polyethylene behavior of the zeolite natolite was confirmed. It was
Carbon fiber laminates –0.13 Evans et al.6
found that the zeolite natolite exhibited the NPR effect
at 45 to the main crystallographic axis in the 001 plane
PP fiber –0.60 Alderson et al.57
for a value of 0.12.
Double-helix yarn –2.10 Miller et al.61
Natural auxetic materials are very useful and have
Warp-knitted fabric –0.60 Ugbolue et al.64 many potential applications in sensor, molecular sieve
Weft-knitted fabric –0.50 Liu et al.65 and separation technologies. For example, zeolites are
PU: polyurethane, PP: polypropylene. used as molecular sieves because of their availability
and their well-defined molecular-sized cavities and
pathways.44

Auxetic materials
Auxetic polymers
Natural auxetic materials Polyurethane (PU) foam was the first man-made
Naturally occurring auxetic materials have been found auxetic polymer manufactured from the conventional
for more than 100 years. Today, a large number of open-cell PU foam by Lakes2 in 1987 through the tri-
natural auxetic materials have been discovered and compression/heating process. The NPR value obtained
investigated, including skins,38,39 ceramics,13 graphite,40 was 0.7. Then, Chan and Evans3 improved the quality
metals,12 Zeolites,41 etc. of auxetic foams by dividing tri-compression into three
Silicate a-cristobalite, which is considered as a class of stages, that is, only compression in one direction at
natural auxetic material, has attracted a lot of attention each stage. This method was used to make auxetic
in recent years. The NPR effect of silicate a-cristobalite foams with higher NPR. The highest NPR measured
comes from the intrinsic rigid structure of the silicate. was 0.82.
The elastic behavior of a-cristobalite was investigated According to the elasticity theory, the NPR of iso-
by the first-principles calculations and its NPR was tropic materials is limited to 1, but the NPR of aniso-
first found.8 Tensorial analysis of the elastic coefficients tropic materials can be very high. The auxetic
showed that the auxetic effect of a-cristobalite could be polytetrafluoroethylene (PTEE),15 based on the
1602 Textile Research Journal 84(15)

particles and fibrillar microstructure, can achieve a high Recently, Xu and Li46 manufactured a shape memory
NPR of 12, and the auxetic ultra-high molecular- auxetic polymer based on syntactic foams through the
weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) can even reach a two-dimensional (2D) stress method (stretch in one dir-
higher NPR up to 19 by compaction, sintering and ection and compress in the transverse direction).
extrusion of the conventional UHMWPE.16 Multi- Handjigeorgiou and Stavroulakis47 designed a smart
sintering after compaction without the extrusion structure that used piezoelectric actuators as the face
step was used to manufacture auxetic UHMWPE layer and auxetic material as a core to analyze the pro-
with improved NPR effect. Some properties of the blem of the shape control of sandwich beams. Scarpa
UHMWPE made with this new method could be fur- and Smith48 coated auxetic rigid PU foam with mag-
ther enhanced compared to those of the old one.17 neto-rheological fluid to increase the electromagnetic
It has been found that the open-cell auxetic foams property of the auxetic foams. These materials have
with large cell size have low stiffness, which restricts multi-functions, which could be very useful in the future.
their applications. To improve the stiffness, auxetic
closed-cell (Figure 2) foams obtained by foaming a
liquid substance or by microspheres joining were
Auxetic composites
molded and studied.4 Another method to obtain auxe- Low Young’s moduli are a big problem of auxetic cel-
tics with higher stiffness was to make them at the lular solids, which restricts their applications.49–51
molecular level. The poly[n]prismanes (n ¼ 36) were Making auxetic composites with auxetic inclusions is
first identified to be auxetic at the molecular level.18 an effective way to enhance Young’s moduli of the
The NPR was found between .007 and 0.15. He auxetic materials.
et al.19,20 proposed a simple molecular-level approach Milton first predicted auxetic fiber-reinforced lamin-
to achieve the NPR effect, and a main chain liquid ates with NPR near to 1.52 After that, a number of
crystalline polymer was designed by a simple site- auxetic laminates have been designed and manufac-
connectivity driven rod reorientation molecular tured.6 The carbon/epoxy is the preferred choice to
method. The NPR effect was achieved by the rod rota- make auxetic laminates.6 It has been found that the
tion from the horizontal direction to the perpendicular fatigue property of laminates is highly concerned with
direction (Figure 3). Grima and Evans21 also investi- the fiber orientation.53 Young’s moduli are also found
gated the molecular auxetics and presented a parallel to be increased by laminating the auxetic layer and alu-
‘graphite-like’ layers model in which each of the layers minum alternately.54
contained a planar polyphenylacetylene infinite network Auxetic core structures can be used in
having a rotating-triangle structure. The possibility of laminated composites due to their synclastic curvature
nanoporomaterials with NPR by the compression- properties. The auxetic hexachiral7 truss core, trichiral
driven self-assembly method was also discussed. The honeycomb core and double arrow core55 have been
prediction model showed that the nanoporomaterials reported and their mechanical properties have been
have good strength and deformation performance.45 investigated.
Auxetic polymeric materials cooperated with It is necessary to note that the semi-auxetic compos-
other properties will give a big leap in application. ites are also found to have properties that are not
between the conventional and auxetic composites but
are unique from both.56

Auxetic textiles
Auxetic textiles, including auxetic fibers, yarns and fab-
rics, have attracted great attention in recent years.

Figure 2. Auxetic closed-cell foams model (after Shilko and Figure 3. Site-connectivity driven rod reorientation molecular
Konyok4). model: (a) before stretch; (b) after stretch (after He et al.20).
Wang and Hu 1603

Figure 4. (a)(b) Auxetic yarn; (c) auxetic woven fabric; (d) auxetic composite (after Miller et al.61).

Alderson et al.57 first produced the polypropylene (PP)

fibers that displayed auxetic behavior using a
continuous partial melt extrusion process. The NPR
obtained was 0.6. After that, different auxetic fibers,
such as auxetic polyester fibers58,59 and nylon fibers,58
were invented and developed. Compared with auxetic
fibers, auxetic yarns can be realized with non-auxetic
fibers using a special yarn structure. An auxetic helical
yarn (Figure 4(a)) was manufactured by wrapping
together two non-auxetic filaments with different stiff-
ness60 in such a way that the stiffer filament is wrapped
around the softer core filament. When stretched, the
stiff filament becomes straight and the soft core fila-
ment gets wrapped around the stiff filament, as shown
in Figure 4(b). This kind of auxetic yarn was used to
fabricate woven fabric61 (Figure 4(c)), which could
inherit the auxetic effect from the yarn. Furthermore,
the composite (Figure 4(d)) reinforced with this fabric Figure 5. Warp knit structures from wales of chain and inlay
still has the auxetic behavior. Different from the fabric yarns; (after Ugbolue et al.64).
made from auxetic yarns, auxetic fabrics could also
be manufactured from non-auxetic yarns by using spe-
cial fabric structures. Most recently, knitted auxetic fabrics were mainly produced on electronic flat
fabrics were manufactured using both the warp and knitting machines. Various auxetic weft-knitted fab-
weft-knitting technologies. Ugbolue et al.62–64 designed rics, developed by Liu et al.65 and Hu et al.66 based
several warp-knitted structures by inspiring the auxetic on different geometrical arrangements, are shown in
yarn structure (Figure 4(a)), as mentioned above. These Figure 6.
structures were constructed from wales of chain and
inlay yarns. The wales were knitted from open loops
using thicker, low-stiffness filaments, and a high- Geometry structures and models
stiffness filament is inlaid around the underlaping
loops. When stretched, the high-stiffness filament
Re-entrant structures
becomes straight and causes open loops to wrap Re-entrant structures are the most commonly used
around them, thus the NPR is obtained (Figure 5). auxetic structures. The first investigated re-entrant
Several auxetic warp-knitted fabrics were produced. structure was a 2D re-entrant hexagon (Figure 7).67
The best NPR value was 0.6. Auxetic weft-knitted When it is subjected to an axial extension, its diagonal
1604 Textile Research Journal 84(15)

Figure 6. Auxetic weft-knitted fabrics developed based on different geometrical arrangements: (a) Miura-ori pattern; (b) rotating
squares; (c) re-entrant hexagons (after Hu et al.66 and Liu et al.65)

(a) (b)

Figure 8. (a) Double-arrowhead; (b) star-shaped structure

Figure 7. Re-entrant honeycomb structure (after Hu et al.66). (after Larsen et al.71; Theocaris et al.72).

Rotating structures
ribs will rotate to the horizontal direction, which leads
to a transverse expansion of the structure. Therefore, Rotating structures are based on the arrangement of
the NPR effect is achieved. Masters and Evans68 stu- some uniform or different size or shape units connected
died the re-entrant honeycomb by together considering at the vertices. When a rotating structure is stretched,
the bending, stretching and hinging deformations of the its units will rotate to open up to achieve the NPR, as
honeycomb cells to derive expressions of tensile moduli, shown in Figure 9. Grima and Evans73 first found this
shear moduli and Poisson’s ratio. A missing rib 2D kind of structure in inorganic crystalline materials, and
model that could better predict the NPR and stress– then proposed rotating squares (Figure 10(a)), rotating
strain behavior of auxetic foams was proposed by triangles (Figure 10(b)) and rotating rectangles
Smith et al.69 (Figure 10(c)). The ideal model of rotating squares
The limit of the 2D model is that it can only be used with rigid units was found to be independent to the
to predict the in-plane behavior, and the out-of-plane initial geometry and the loading directions, keeping
behavior is completely ignored. However, auxetic the NPR at 1. So it was too simplistic to characterize
materials do exist in the three-dimensional (3D) the deformation of uniaxial extension. The ‘semi-rigid
form. That implicates that the 3D model will be more units’,74 ‘stretch-units’, were investigated in order to
accurate to predict the auxetic behavior. Lakes and better capture the deformation characteristics of auxe-
Witt70 designed a tetrakaidecahedra model for foam tic materials. The model of different-sized rigid rect-
cells. The foam cell ribs are protruding inwards angles75 was also proposed to represent the properties
compared to the conventional foam cell, and when sub- of different systems ranging from silicates and zeolites
jected to load, the ribs will unfold to achieve the NPR to liquid crystalline polymers.
effect.
Other re-entrant structures are also found to have
the NPR effect. The double arrowhead71 (Figure 8(a))
Nodule and fibril structure
structure achieves the NPR by opening the arrowheads Nodule and fibril structure was first reported by
when stretched, while the star-shaped structure72 Caddock and Evans for auxetic micro-porous polymer
(Figure 8(b)) obtains the NPR by rotating its ribs. in a 2D model (Figure 11).15 The NPR effect comes
The sinusoidal ligaments structure gets the NPR by from the nodule translation by the stretched fibrils
opening up the re-entrant cells. when loaded.25 Including the out-of plan effect, the
Wang and Hu 1605

Figure 9. Rotating units open up when stretched (after Hu et al.66).

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 10. (a) Rotating squares; (b) rotating triangles; (c) rotating rectangles structure (after Grima et al.73).

(a) (b) Fibrils

Nodules

Figure 12. Chiral structure (after Grima et al.78).

Figure 11. Nodule and fibril model (after Caddock and
Evans15). nodes.78 The auxetic behavior of the site-connectivity
driven rod reorientation structure (Figure 3) comes
3D nodule and fibril model76 could be applied to more from the rotation of the rods.20,79 The rod model
materials, such as micro-porous expanded polymers, (Figure 13) for describing the angle-ply composites,80
body-centered cubic metals and foams. Lim and molecular rods with prismatic structure to achieve
Acharya77 modified the rectangle nodule to hexagonal auxetic behavior at the molecular level,18 double-
nodule, which is approximate to sphere-like nodules for arrow-like ‘hard’ block and a spring-like ‘soft’ segment
the property prediction of PP films and fibers. model for copolymers81 was also proposed.
Investigations showed that the 3D hexagonal nodule
and fibril models exhibited a greater NPR effect com-
pared to the equivalent 2D ones.
Properties
Auxetic materials have many enhanced properties com-
pared to conventional materials. These enhanced prop-
Other structures
erties make auxetic materials very attractive for many
The chiral structure (Figure 12) obtains the NPR effect special applications. In this part, some important prop-
by wrapping and unwrapping the ligaments around the erties of auxetic materials are presented.
1606 Textile Research Journal 84(15)

Figure 13. Angle-ply composites: (a) structure; (b) model (after Shilko et al.80).

Mechanical properties Convenonal Auxec

The mechanical properties of auxetic polymeric foams materials materials
were systematically studied.82,83 In general, the auxetic
foams exhibit a lower Young’s modulus compared to
conventional foams. The compressive Young’s modu-
lus of auxetic foams is about half that of conventional
foams in small deformation, and the same figure was
found in the tensile Young’s modulus in the linear elas-
tic deformation region. However, the shear modulus of
auxetic foams is higher than conventional foams.22,83 Figure 14. Indentation resistance.
This property can be explained by the relations
among shear modulus G, Poisson’s ratio n, Young’s
modulus E and bulk modulus K. For isotropic mater-
Synclastic curvature
ials, the relations are: E ¼ 2G (1 + n) ¼ 3K (1  2n).
From the relations, it can be found that the Young’s When a conventional material is subjected to a bending
modulus E of conventional materials is at least twice as force, it shows a saddle shape (Figure 15(a)) due to the
high as the shear modulus G. However, for auxetic perpendicular shrinkage. For an auxetic material, it
materials, as the Poisson’s ratio is negative, the shear demonstrates a dome shape in that the perpendicular
modulus G becomes higher and the bulk modulus K direction has the same curve trend with the bending
becomes lower. For example, when n ¼ 1, much direction, that is, synclastic curvature (Figure 15(b)).26
higher G than K can be obtained. That means the The synclastic curvature property makes an auxetic
material becomes difficult to shear and easy to deform material better fitting with the curve surface, such as
volumetrically.36 a dome.

Indentation resistance Fracture toughness and crack resistance

Auxetic materials have enhanced indentation resistance Auxetic materials have increased fracture toughness.
compared with conventional materials. When an object The toughness of auxetic foams was investigated
is impacting on a conventional material, the material as a function of the permanent volumetric compression
flows away (Figure 14) in the lateral directions, which ratio.85 The toughness of auxetic foams were increased
causes the density reduction. On the contrary, an auxe- by 80%, 130% and 160% for permanent volumetric
tic material flows into the vicinity of the impact point compression ratios of 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, respectively, com-
when impacting because of the NPR effect. The mater- pare to the conventional foams. The auxetic materials
ial becomes denser at the impact point, resulting in an also have enhanced crack resistance. A crack will close
increase of the indentation resistance. The auxetic up under loading due to the NPR effect.
UHMWPE was found to be 2.5 times the indentation
resistance of conventional UHMWPE.17 The enhanced
Energy absorption properties
indentation resistance has also been found in the other
auxetics, for instance, auxetic fiber-reinforced Auxetic materials have better energy absorption prop-
composites.24,84 erties. The cyclic compression tests on auxetic foams
Wang and Hu 1607

auxetic materials are more sensitive, which allows them

(a) (b)
to be used in sensors,92 such as hydrophones. Another
usage of auxetic materials can be in aerospace applica-
tions, such as an auxetic gradient cellular core for aero-
engine fan blades,35 vanes for gas turbine engines,93
thermal protection,40 aircraft nose-cones,94 wing
panels,87 etc. Special auxetic materials can be used in
Figure 15. (a) Anticlastic curvature; (b) synclastic curvature. the biomedical area,33,34 including auxetic spinal
implants,95 auxetic annuloplasty prosthesis,96 artificial
blood vessels26 and auxetic esophageal stents.97 Auxetic
materials can be used as fasteners. The fastener
designed by Choi and Lakes98 is larger than the hole
by a tolerance in the radial dimension. When inserted,
the diameter of the fastener becomes smaller under the
compressive axial force, which makes it easy to insert.
When removed, the fastener laterally expands due to
Convenonal materials Tensile direcon axial extension to resist removal. The advantage of
this auxetic fastener is the simplicity of the press-fit
insertion. Auxetic materials can also be used as seat
Tensile direcon cushions,99 earphones,100 etc.

Auxec materials
Applications in textiles
It should be pointed out that the potential applications
Figure 16. Permeability of the auxetic honeycomb. of auxetic textiles are vast. In the fiber or yarn form,
auxetics can be exploited in different ways, for example,
to lock the textiles in position when a tension load is
showed the damping capacity of auxetic foams was 10 applied on a fiber-reinforced composite.37 The fiber
times higher than that of the original conventional becomes fatter laterally when loaded and is locked
foams that were used for making the auxetic into the composite, which effectively prevents the
foams.28,86 Sound absorption28–30 and crashworthi- pull-out problem that often occurs in conventional
ness27,28,30 of auxetic materials were also found to be fiber-reinforced composites. Another example was the
enhanced compared to the conventional materials. auxetic blast curtains101 produced on a craft loom using
the helical auxetic yarn (Figure 4(a)). The curtain opens
up when the pressure wave comes. The glass fragments
Variable permeability
coming after the pressure wave can then be captured by
The auxetic materials have superior permeability com- the curtain. Therefore, the blast-proof function is
pared with conventional materials, because of their achieved.
pore-opening properties (Figure 16). The pores Auxetic materials can be used as medical
become wider in the perpendicular direction when textiles. One of the examples is the smart bandage.37
stretched, so the pore size becomes larger in both The bandage made from auxetic filaments can carry
axial and perpendicular directions. The variable perme- some wound-healing agent. When the bandage is
ability of the auxetic honeycomb was studied and it was applied on the swelled wound, it will open up and
found that the variable permeability could be improved released the agent. When the wound heals and swelling
from macro-scale to nano-scale.87 decreases, the bandage will close and stop to release the
agent, as shown in Figure 17.
Auxetic fabrics can be used in protective clothing
Applications and equipment because of their good energy absorption
properties and shape fitting. Protective clothing and
General applications equipment are indispensable for some dangerous
Due to their unusual properties, auxetic materials have sports, such as riding, racing and skating, to protect
found variable applications.87 Auxetic materials with a wearers from injuries by impact forces. In particular,
pores structure can be used in the filters88–91 because the parts of the body, such as elbows and knees, which
the pores open up when stretched, such as in the case of are easily injured, need to be protected, so that the pro-
re-entrant honeycomb. Due to the low bulk modulus, tective pads are usually used in these areas of the
1608 Textile Research Journal 84(15)

Bandage applied to wound Infected wound swells Wound heals

Figure 17. Smart bandage (after Alderson et al.17).

protective clothing and equipment. However, the pro- the belly by elastic fabrics when the belly grows up.
tective pads found on today’s market are mostly made The use of auxetic fabrics can solve this problem.
from foams that have low air permeability. Three- When the belly grows, the auxetic fabric becomes
dimensional auxetic fabrics (e.g. auxetic spacer fabrics) wider in both the waist direction and the direction per-
can be used to replace foams with ones that have a pendicular to it. In this case, the belly does not have to
better comfort property. In addition, the formation of bear too much pressure as the auxetic fabric can natur-
the dome shape of auxetic fabrics under bending due to ally form a dome shape, which perfectly fits the belly
the synclastic curvature feature also makes them very shape.
easy to fit the shapes of elbows and knees and There are still many other potential applications of
thus increases their protective performance and the auxetic textile materials. Auxetic spacer fabrics can be
freedom of movement of these body parts. The anti- used for bra cups due to their excellent shape fitting and
vibration gloves31 made from auxetic PU foams have comfortable property. Auxetic fabrics with increased
been proved to have a good anti-vibration effect by air permeability under extension can be used for
decreasing the compressive stresses. However, this summer wear and functional sportswear. Auxetic
kind of glove is not comfortable, and allergies could yarns can be used as dental floss. The safety belts
occur with long-time wearing. Like the protective of cars can be produced with high-performance
clothes, using auxetic 3D fabric to replace the PU auxetic fabrics to decrease the concentration of
foams can be a good way to resolve this problem. impact pressure due to increased contact area with
Auxetic material is also a good candidate for bullet- the human body, etc.
proof vest use, because the force of the bullet can be
reduced by the sideways expansion of the auxetic
vest.102
Challenges and perspectives
Using auxetic fabric to make children’s wear can be The development of auxetic materials has been fast in
another application. Parents may know how fast their recent years. A large number of auxetic materials
children grow up. The clothes that were just bought have been discovered, made or investigated, including
several months ago may get too tight and not fit their fibers, yarn, fabrics, foams, composites, metals, cer-
children. Many parents may buy looser clothes for their amics, etc. Although many potential applications have
children to let them grow. However, the looser clothes been proposed, real applications of auxetic materials
may cause falls or injury when children are playing. are still limited at the primary stage. The work in the
Auxetic children’s wear can resolve this problem effect- future should make more effort on the development of
ively. Auxetic fabrics made of foldable structure can new auxetic materials that have real applications. The
easily expand in both the length and width directions, combination of auxetic effect with other functions, such
which makes the clothes be well fitted for children for a as shape memory and electromagnetic effect to make
long time, so that parents do not have to frequently buy multi-functional auxetic materials, should be taken into
clothes for their children and can save a lot of money. consideration to upgrade material properties and
It is more important that good fitting can be achieved usages. The extension of auxetic materials to more
with auxetic wear, so children do not need to wear field applications, such as textiles, aerospace or bio-
poor-fitted clothes anymore. medicine, should be a future trend.
Maternity dresses made from auxetic fabrics can To date, only a few auxetic fabrics have been devel-
obtain a great effect. Elastic fabrics are commonly oped and they have not been very suitable for apparel
used for the belly or adjustable waist in the maternity use yet. The design and manufacture of auxetic fabrics
dresses. This will cause a severe discomfort problem with non-auxetic yarns still remains a great challenge
because more and more pressure will be applied on for textile specialists. Further systematic studies of
Wang and Hu 1609

auxetic fabrics should be carried out in order to fully 12. Love AEH. A treatise on the mathematical theory of elas-
exploit this new kind of material based on textile tech- ticity, 4th edn. New York: Dover Publications, 1944.
nology. The most important factor that needs to be 13. Ledbetter H and Lei M. Monocrystal elastic constants of
improved is to make auxetic fabrics keep their auxetic orthotropic Y1Ba2Cu3O7: an estimate. J Mater Res
effect during repeating uses. More effort should be 1991; 6: 2253–2255.
14. Evans KE, Nkansah MA, Hutchinson IJ, et al. Molecular
made to develop auxetic fabrics with better wearability.
network design. Nature 1991; 353: 124.
Three-dimensional auxetic fabrics to replace foam pads
15. Caddock BD and Evans KE. Microporous materials with
used in protective clothing need further development. negative Poisson’s ratios. I. Microstructure and mechan-
Smart textiles incorporated with auxetic behavior could ical properties. J Phys D Appl Phys 1989; 22: 1877–1882.
be a good choice for the further development of auxetic 16. Alderson KL and Evans KE. The fabrication of micro-
textiles. For example, anti-bacteria clothes with auxetic porous polyethylene having a negative Poisson’s ratio.
behavior can open up pores to release the drug when Polymer 1992; 33: 4435–4438.
put on, and close the pore when taken off by using the 17. Alderson KL, Webber RS, Kettle AP, et al. Novel fabri-
variable permeability properties of auxetic materials. cation route for auxetic polyethylene. Part 1. Processing
With the effort of researchers, it is believed that more and microstructure. Polym Eng Sci 2005; 45: 568.
auxetic textile materials will successfully be developed 18. Pour N, Itzhaki L, Hoz B, et al. Auxetics at the molecular
for a large number of applications in the future. level: a negative Poisson’s ratio in molecular rods. Angew
Chem 2006; 118: 6127–6129.
19. He C, Liu P, McMullan PJ, et al. Toward molecular
Funding auxetics: main chain liquid crystalline polymers consist-
This work was supported by the Research Grants Council of ing of laterally attached para-quaterphenyls. Phys Stat
the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Sol B 2005; 242: 576–584.
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