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Researchers Develop Self-Cleaning Clothes
Ponca City, We Love You writes "Researchers at Monash University, in Australia, have found a process to coat natural fibers such as wool, silk, and hemp that will automatically remove food, grime, and even red-wine stains by coating their fibers with titanium dioxide nanocrystals, which break down food and dirt in sunlight. Titanium dioxide is a strong photocatalyst and in the presence of ultraviolet light and water vapor, it forms hydroxyl radicals, which oxidize, or decompose, organic matter. "These nanocrystals cannot decompose wool and are harmless to skin," says organic chemist and nanomaterials researcher Walid Daoud. Titanium dioxide can also destroy pathogens such as bacteria in the presence of sunlight by breaking down the cell walls of the microorganisms making self-cleaning fabrics especially useful in hospitals and other medical settings."
It's interesting that a compound normally used in dyes is now being use to prevent stains.
1) Does this process bleach the fabric? (i.e. Does this work for colors other than white?)
2) What does this do to the longevity of the fibers in the fabric? Does constant exposure to hydroxyl ions damage the cellulose in them?
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
Titanium dioxide is a strong photocatalyst and in the presence of ultraviolet light and water vapor, it forms hydroxyl radicals
It sounds like some of the titanium dioxide is used up in the process. How long will the self-cleaning property last?
That was my first thought, too. Sunlight is only allowed in recovery rooms at any of the hospitals I've been in, and MAYBE some lobbies.
Still, fluorescent tubes not only cause me to have seizures, but they also produce huge amounts of ultraviolet light. Will they still work? (No, the humor is not lost on me that the lighting in hospitals causes me to have seizures... )
I like to place meaningful quotes in my sig, so people will know that I know what meaningful quotes are.
Can these self-cleaning clothes handle the "armpit stank" most of us put out? those living in the basement of their parent's house might not consider this much of an issue, but the rest of us do :-)
What stops the hydroxyl radicals produced by Ti02 from oxidizing the organic material in the cotton, silk, or hemp fibers?
Sounds like a great way to ensure no one wears last year's fashions.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
But what is wrong with this picture (from one of the Wikipedia links above)? Is she some sort or slave woman whose chains were photoshopped from her legs but not all of her shadow? WTF?
Method of processing duck feet
There are a small number of people who are allergic to titanium dioxide.
I only know this because I am one of them. This is annoying because it means I can't use toothpaste, eat m&m's (or any other hard candy for the most part), and I get surface rashes from transfer exposure; e.g. my wife can no longer paint her fingernails because most nail polish has titanium dioxide. We only found out I had the allergy after we bought my wedding band, a beautiful piece of titanium...Great movie, though not as good as the Lavender Hill Mob. What's particularly interesting is that the this fictional fabric had exactly the same issues (durability, colors other than white) that are being raised with respect to this new fabric!
Since this is Slashdot, it's worth mentioning that the star of these movies was Obi-Wan himself, Alec Guinness. Oddly enough, Sir Alec hated them, not so much on artistic grounds but because he felt that Ealing Studios treated its actors poorly. He was particularly pissed about shoddy safety measures during the shooting of Lavender Hill Mob, during which he nearly fell off the Eiffel Tower!