Coming soon… clothes that clean themselves!

Remember the time when you became overworked, overslept and woke up late only to find you don’t have any clean shirts to wear to office?

Most of us have been there and done that. So here is some heartening news for such people — scientists are one step closer to creating clothes that clean themselves.

Researchers from Australia’s RMIT University have invented a textile that will clean itself of dirt when exposed to light. The breakthrough came with the invention of special nanostructures that degrade organic material when put in direct sunlight or under a light bulb.

Scientists have perfected a cheap and efficient way to grow these nanostructures directly onto textiles. The findings were published in the journal Advanced Materials Interfaces.

In recent years, scientists have been working to develop self-cleaning materials through nanotechnology. News of self-cleaning shirts, jeans and suits have emerged in news reports, all harnessing nanotechnology to make materials that clean themselves.

In the latest study, scientists worked with copper and silver-based nanostructures, known for their ability to absorb visible light. When the nanostructures are exposed to light, they get an energy boost resulting in ‘hot electrons’ that allows organic matter to be broken down.

To make the nanostructure viable on an industrial scale, they sought to find a way to permanently attach them to textiles.

To do this, the team grew the nanostructures directly onto the material by dipping them in special solutions. After 30 minutes, stable nanostructures had been achieved.

When this material was exposed to light, the team found it took just six minutes for it to start cleaning itself.

“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,” said study author Rajesh Ramanathan.

Courtesy: ibtimes.co.uk