Self-cleaning textiles use light to break down dirt

The study means that the self-cleaning of the clothes will be achieved step by step, and the future development of stains and grime on the surface of the nano-textiles can be cleaned by simply placing them in a light source or in the sun.

Developed by scientists at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University), this breakthrough technology enables textiles with special nanostructures to directly decompose organic stains on fabrics when exposed to light.

Dr. Rajesh Ramanathan of RMIT University said: "The advantage of this kind of fabric is that it has a 3D structure and has the ability to absorb light, which accelerates the degradation process of organic matter."

“But before we started to abandon the washing machine, there was still a lot of research work to be done. This advanced technology laid a solid foundation for the subsequent development of fabrics with complete self-cleaning ability”.

Researchers at Ran University's Ian Potter NanoBioSensing and Nano Biotechnology Research Laboratories use copper and silver as molecules in nanostructures because the two metal nanostructures absorb visible light.

Such nanostructures are exposed to light, allowing them to extract energy that promotes the production of "hot electrons", releasing a large amount of energy that can degrade organic matter.

At present, the challenge for researchers is to make this concept work outside the laboratory, trying to make these nanostructures mass-produced and permanently attach them to fabrics.

The RMIT University team's approach is to immerse the fabric in some solution, allowing the nanostructures to grow directly on the fabric, and some of the fabrics reach a stable nanostructure within 30 minutes.

When the nanostructured textiles are exposed to the sun in less than six minutes, they can be cleaned by themselves.

Ramanathan said, "The next step will be to test the properties of this nano-woven fabric to remove some of the organic compounds to detect how quickly they can dispose of the stains that consumers often get on their clothes, such as ketchup or dripping."