#self cleaning

Self-cleaning fabric could eliminate the need for detergent

Detergents may begin their journey by cleaning our clothes, but they end up contaminating the environment, flowing into rivers, ponds, and oceans, where they severely disrupt aquatic animal life. Even after wastewater treatment, some chemicals remain and pass through filtration systems, continuing to pollute natural water bodies. A team of researchers from China explored the question: What if our clothes could be washed without detergent? In a study published in Communications Chemistry, researchers introduced a versatile self-cleaning fabric coating that could eliminate the need for detergents in everyday laundry. By alternately spraying the fabrics with two polymers—poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDADMAC) and poly(vinylsulfonic acid) (PVS)—they created a dense hydration layer that allows dirt and microbes to be washed away using only water.

It’s Jeff #26

Novel self-cleaning electrode developed for alkaline-earth metal peroxide synthesis

Metal peroxide (MO2, M=Ca, Sr, Ba) is an alternative to hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). It has excellent oxidative properties, superior chemical stability, high purity, and is easy to store and transport. It has been widely used in wastewater treatment and disinfection. A Chinese research group has developed a novel self-cleaning electrode by constructing a micro-/nanostructure of a highly active catalyst with appropriate surface modification, achieving highly stable synthesis of alkaline-earth MO2. Their study is published in Nature Nanotechnology. The current primary synthesis process of MO2 involves fast decomposition of H2O2, leading to insufficient utilization of H2O2. In this study, led by Prof. Lu Zhiyi at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Prof. Jia Jinping at Shanghai Jiaotong University, the researchers proposed an in situ electrochemical synthesis process to lessen economic losses and reduce explosion risks arising from H2O2 transportation and storage.

Catalysis breakthrough yields self-cleaning wall paint that breaks down air pollutants when exposed to sunlight

Typically, beautiful white wall paint does not stay beautiful and white forever. Often, substances from the air accumulate on its surface. This can be a desired effect because it makes the air cleaner for a while—but over time, the color changes and needs to be renewed. A research team from TU Wien and the Università Politecnica delle Marche (Italy) has now succeeded in developing special titanium oxide nanoparticles that can be added to ordinary, commercially available wall paint to establish self-cleaning power: The nanoparticles are photocatalytically active, they can use sunlight not only to bind substances from the air, but also to decompose them afterwards. The wall makes the air cleaner—and cleans itself at the same time. Waste was used as the raw material for the new wall paint: metal scrap, which would otherwise have to be discarded, and dried fallen leaves. The study is published in ACS Catalysis.

It’s Jeff #26