Researchers Develop Self-Cleaning Clothes

Ponca City, We Love You writes "Researchers at Monash University, in Australia, have found a process to coat natural fibers such as wool, silk, and hemp that will automatically remove food, grime, and even red-wine stains by coating their fibers with titanium dioxide nanocrystals, which break down food and dirt in sunlight. Titanium dioxide is a strong photocatalyst and in the presence of ultraviolet light and water vapor, it forms hydroxyl radicals, which oxidize, or decompose, organic matter. "These nanocrystals cannot decompose wool and are harmless to skin," says organic chemist and nanomaterials researcher Walid Daoud. Titanium dioxide can also destroy pathogens such as bacteria in the presence of sunlight by breaking down the cell walls of the microorganisms making self-cleaning fabrics especially useful in hospitals and other medical settings."

Sunlight?

[Harmonious Botch]

Sunlight?

This is some new kind of LED, right?

"...natural fibers such as wool, silk, and hemp..." So what if I'm sitting real close to someone who is wearing spandex or nylon or some other artificial fabric? Does it eat through those?

Its Achilles heel

[BadAnalogyGuy]

Obviously this would be the perfect clothing for many slashbots. However its requirement of sunlight to activate the self-cleaning enzymes makes it impractical for those basement dwellers among you.

Can they modify the fabric to react to the glow of a CRT?

Only self-cleans in sunlight?

[Gr33nNight]

I guess we'll be seeing many more geeks walking around in their underwear.

In Other News...

[wrfelts]

...man wakes up to find a pile of goo wearing his wife's very clean titanium dioxide pajamas...

Well, there goes my plans...

[Anonymous Coward]

I guess the old "Spill something on her dress and act concerned by patting her chest with a napkin" plan just flew out the window. Now I gotta use other plans to act innocent while copping a feel.

I guess I could try the "Make a sudden stop at a light right before it turns red and stick my arm out to make sure she doesn't fly forward" plan.

Welcome to 2002, Australia!

[BadAnalogyGuy]

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/19/1246231 [slashdot.org]

Let us pool in money...

[middlemen]

Let us pool in money and buy one for our beloved RMS ! ;)

Idiocracy

[conspirator57]

so that's how the clothes in that movie stayed so clean despite the surrounding filth...

there's proof positive this will work.

check it out in the time musheen!

Man, I remember when Lead was safe too

[tjstork]

Sure, they say that Titanium Dioxide, that uber dangerous chemical also found in white paint, is safe to wear now, but, what about 20 years ago? Back in my day, scientists said that lead was safe for gasoline, and that was wrong. Then they said that the pill was safe, until fish started popping up without sex organs? They used to have this four food groups and said I needed to eat a lot of peanut butter and cheese, and I did, and now I need a new thing to get my cholesterol back down, and I can only eat food that even dogs wouldn't eat. Back in my day, doctors used to dole out speed like it was going out of style and advocate a smoke to calm your nerves. Now they've taken all of that away, all the good stuff, and instead, I've got clothes that I won't have to wash. I know those are going to kill me too.

Nope, I'll just stick to washing clothes with water and a bit of soap!

Re:Safe on the body, but inside the body?

[shking]

Self-cleaning anal beads! You're a genius!

No sh**!

BTW, great summary

[BadAnalogyGuy]

Researchers ... have found a process to coat natural fibers ... by coating their fibers...

That's some darn good journalism right there. Uh-huh.

Re:Its Achilles heel

[jrumney]

You mean you have the energy left to take your clothes off and hang them in the server-room closet before you slump over your keyboard for the night? You obviously aren't getting in enough WoW.

Re:Sunlight?

[lobiusmoop]

It's the light bulb in the big blue room.

Pffft. If the clothing was smart

[roman_mir]

If the clothing made from this fabric was smart enough, it would eventually figure out that the best way to get rid of the 'dirt' problem is to eliminate the one, who is wearing the clothing in question. While the researchers say that these nanocrystals cannot harm the skin, how long before it gains this ability, by say becoming exposed to some levels of X-Rays higher than normal? It wouldn't make long before a movie about the hungry killer suit is released. Also judging from the kind of garbage that get the Oscar nowadays [oscar.com], this new movie is going to get fasttracked in that department as well.

Re:Its Achilles heel

[provigilman]

Well if you're playing WoW naked then it isn't a problem, is it? I mean....not that, you know...I do, or anything....it was just a suggestion...if you're into that..... *runs*

Re:Sunlight?

[gstoddart]

"...natural fibers such as wool, silk, and hemp..." So what if I'm sitting real close to someone who is wearing spandex or nylon or some other artificial fabric? Does it eat through those?

Interesting ramifications if you went to the beach [wikipedia.org] to get some sun [wikipedia.org] in the presence of a woman [wikipedia.org] wearing a bathing suit [wikipedia.org].

I think we may need to get a grant to see if this chemical can cause the spontaneous decay of women's swim wear in public. :-P The practical applications of that technology would be staggering.

Cheers

Re:Man, I remember when Lead was safe too

[orclevegam]

You know that soap will kill you. Also, water is the deadliest substance on Earth, says so right here [dhmo.org].

Re:In Other News...

[DrLang21]

We most certainly ARE organic matter. And in a sense, we are also food. I for one do not desire to be digested by my own pants.

Re:Life span of garment?

[IceCreamGuy]

...it'll produce bleach vapor

Wait... like chlorine gas? Will I finally be able to make the Bender chlorine jokes while actually choking on chlorine gas? Fantastic!

Re:Well, there goes my plans...

[Anonymous Coward]

He can't afford the date rape drug yet.

Re:This must be what Star Trek uniforms are made o

[Lurker2288]

It's not hard to keep the red shirts clean--people don't seem to wear them very long.

Re:Sunlight?

[asterix404]

Screw hospitals, does this mean that if geeks go out for 15 mins of sunlight they don't smell anymore?

But will it also disolve the person???

[Soskywalkr]

New innovative method for weightloss... Clothing that eats you alive - while you wear it.

Re:In Other News...

[Dogtanian]

The article states that the Titanium Dioxide used is the same compound used in sun screen and cosmetics, so it's probably not going to dissolve anyone's wife anytime soon ^.^

That's what *they* want you to believe. In truth, anyone who's worn sunscreen for any length of time has likely been gradually replaced atom-by-atom without ever noticing, until there's nothing of the original human being left. Sure, they look like hot bikini babes, but they're actually aliens from the planet Ambre Solaire.

Re:Well, there goes my plans...

[TooMuchToDo]

I like to go with the "ride in front of me on my motorcycle facing me, holding on, because I don't have a passenger backrest."

Re:Totally off topic

[Deagol]

Ugh. Is it me, or does that woman have a face like Odo [wikimedia.org]?

Re:Sunlight?

[TobyRush]

does this mean that if geeks go out for 15 mins of sunlight they don't smell anymore?

Yeah, but 15 whole minutes of actual sunlight? I mean, would it really be worth it?

Re:Totally off topic

[Jesus_666]

This is going to make for very interesting server logs over at Wikimedia. "What the hell were they talking about on Slashdot?!"