Published in ScienceNOW, 15 Dec 2011
Tired of washing your clothes? In the future, the chore might be as easy as hanging them in the sun, according to researchers who have developed a type of self-cleaning cotton. The idea is not totally new: Coatings such as titanium dioxide have long been known to have self-cleaning properties. When light strikes, the compound emits oppositely charged particles known as electron-hole pairs, which encourage so-called oxidation reactions, breaking down organic material such as dirt. […]
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