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c0lo [soylentnews.org] writes:

Australian Broadcast Corporation reports [abc.net.au] on the nanotechnology research being developed by Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology researchers:

People could soon be able to replace their washing machines with a little bit of sunshine, thanks to pioneering nanotechnology research being developed by RMIT University researchers.
The researchers have been working on self-cleaning textiles, by growing nanostructures on textiles which — when exposed to light — release a burst of energy that then degrades organic matter.

Dr Rajesh Ramanathan, one of the lead researchers at the Ian Potter NanoBioSensing Facility and NanoBiotechnology Research Lab at RMIT, said the team worked with copper and silver-based nanostructures, which are known for their ability to absorb visible light.

"Basically what we do is take a simple cotton textile, we have a few different new methodologies to grow nanostructures directly on them, and then once these structures are formed we can just shine light on them," Dr Ramanathan said.

"Because the nanostructure is metal-based they can absorb visible light, what that does is it basically excites the metal nanoparticles which are present on the surface.

"And because of this energy, it's able to degrade organic matter which is present on it so that's how it'll get rid of stains."
...
Dr Ramanathan said this research could be extrapolated in other fields.

"In fields like biology or antibacterial textiles, one of the problems the entire world is facing is superbugs, it's very difficult to kill them or get rid of them," he said.
"So one of the potential aspects of this material is that we have started testing it on superbugs and it's showing amazing results."

The research has been published [wiley.com] in the journal Advanced Materials Interfaces.

Would you wear garments made from these self-cleaning fabrics?

Original Submission