Since my final Fabricademy project, Icy Haute, involved triggering the formation of sodium acetate crystals, I experimented with growing these crystals on textiles. I also want to learn how I could integrate electronics with crystals, so I experimented with growing these crystals on electrically conductive textiles.
Sodium acetate trihydrate forms crystals from a surface by having seed crystals present on the surface in a solution (ref). Thus, I sought to grow crystals on textiles involved pre-soaking textiles in a melted salt solution to implant crystals, and then growing the salt after the pre-soak.
| ID | Description | Composition | Resistance | Notes on what worked and didn’t |
| A | Woven conductive fabric | Copper+nickel plated nylon | < 1 Ohm/ft | Very minimal growth of crystals on textile |
| B | Silver stretch fabric | 76% Silver / 24% Nylon | < 1 Ohm/sq | Small, but noticeable crystal growth |
| C | Knit Jersey Conductive Fabric | 63% cotton, 35% silver yarn and 2% spandex | 46 Ohms/ft in stretchy direction; 460 Ohms/ft in less stretchy direction | Most dramatic crystal growth |
| D | Stainless steel mesh | 100% stainless steel | 2 Ohms/sq | Crystal growth similar to textile B, but maybe even less so |
| E | ESD static fabric | 60% stainless steel, 40% polyester | 2.2 Ohms/sq (transverse direction); 1000 Ohms/sq (longitudinally) | Second to most dramatic crystal growth |
