imagine that when exposed to ordinary sunlight, jeans, sweat or socks hanging on clotheslines or on balcony railings can clean themselves and get rid of the odor. American scientists have reported a new kind of cotton fabric, which can clean its own stains and bacteria when exposed to ordinary sunlight. The report is published in ACS applied materials and interfaces
Mingce Long and Deyong Wu said their fabrics had a composite titanium dioxide coating, which was used for everything, from white paint to food to sunscreen lotion. When titanium dioxide is exposed to certain kinds of light, it can decompose dirt and kill microorganisms. 1t has been used for self-cleaning windows, kitchen and bathroom tiles, odorless socks and other products. The report’s authors point out that self-cleaning cotton fabrics have been produced in the past, but they can only clean themselves when exposed to ultraviolet light. So they set out to develop a new kind of cotton fabric that can clean itself when exposed to ordinary sunlight
their report describes cotton fabrics coated with compound nanoparticles of titanium dioxide and nitrogen. They say that when exposed to sunlight, the coated fabric material removes orange dye stains. The nanoparticles composed of silver and iodine are further decomposed to accelerate the discoloration process. The coating is still intact after washing and drying
special article by Cao Haihong, information officer of China Textile Network