Tuesday, January 10, 2012

THE SELF-CLEANING SHIRT

A mustard eruption at lunch? No worries: Just take a stroll in the sun. Chinese scientists have created a chemical additive for cotton that degrades stains and kills bacteria when exposed to light, opening the door to self-cleaning clothes.
Titanium dioxide had already been known to attack stains and can be affixed to cotton, but activation requires light from the ultraviolet spectrum, making the material impractical. When the researchers added nitrogen and silver iodide to the mix, however, two hours and a 1,000-watt lamp were all it took to defeat a deep orange stain. The procedure should work on "almost all organic pollutants," according to the researchers.
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