Researchers in Australia invent self-cleaning fabric
According to CNN Money, researchers in Australia have discovered a way to mutate fabric using nanotechnology so that dirt and stains on clothing vanishes in minutes after exposure to the sun.
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Once fabric is dipped in a chemical solution of microscopic copper and silver particles, the particles act like tiny, microscopic cleaners, brushing away stains.
Rajesh Ramanathan, one of the lead researchers, said the chemical solution doesn’t eat into the fabric, ‘because cotton is cellulose — is very tough.’ His team at the Ian Potter NanoBioSensing Facility at RMIT University in Melbourne has also tested polyester and nylon fabrics with success.
Though researchers in China also created self-cleaning fabrics a few years ago, the process took up to 18 hours. This new process only takes about 40 minutes!
​If you still wanted to wash your clothes, you could, but the coating would wash away in a little more than 15 washes. Ramanathan said that not only did he hope textile manufacturers would use the solution, but he hoped it would be something everyday consumers would use.
Ramanathan told PhysOrg, ‘There’s more work to do to before we can start throwing out our washing machines, but this advance lays a strong foundation for the future development of fully self-cleaning textiles.’
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