Textiles which clean themselves when exposed to light could be a commercial reality in the near future, thanks to research into special nanostructures which can degrade organic matter when exposed to light.
The researchers from the Ian Potter NanoBioSensing Facility and NanoBiotechnology Research Lab at RMIT found a cheap and efficient new way to grow these nanostructures directly onto textiles, which could result in nano-enhanced textiles that can clean themselves of stains and grime when exposed to a light bulb, or in the sun.
Possibilities include reduced maintenance in industrial applications, or sports clothing which clean themselves when worn under the sun. Perhaps more significantly, the process of growing those nanostructures onto textiles could also be applicable to catalysis-based industries such as agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and natural products, and could be easily scaled up to industrial levels.
Dr Rajesh Ramanathan, who led the research at RMIT, says textiles are a prime candidate on which to grow the nanostructures, primarily because they already have a 3D structure, and are great at absorbing light, which then speeds up the process of degrading organic matter.
The researchers had been working with copper and silver-based nanostructures, which are known for their ability to absorb visible light. These nanostructures, when exposed to light, receive an energy boost that creates "hot electrons", which release a burst of energy that enables the nanostructures to degrade organic matter.
The challenge was how to bring these nanostructures out of the lab, by working out how to build these nanostructures on an industrial scale, and permanently attach them to textiles. The research team found they could grow the nanostructures directly onto the textiles by dipping them in a few solutions. Stable nanostructures then developed on the textile within 30 minutes.
These nano-enhanced textiles, when exposed to light, took less than six minutes to spontaneously clean themselves.
“Our next step will be to test our nano-enhanced textiles with organic compounds that could be more relevant to consumers, to see how quickly they can handle common stains like tomato sauce or wine,” Dr Ramanathan said.