Indian Scientists Just Made A Spray That Makes Clothes Clean Themselves!

Getting rid of stubborn stains from clothes will no more be a herculean task. The Facilitation Centre for Industrial Plasma Technologies (FCIPT), a division of Institute for Plasma Research (IPR) in Gandhinagar, has manufactured a technology wherein a cloth can be rendered stain proof.

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The FCIPT has developed nano particle powder wherein titanium metal is vaporised with plasma to form titanium dioxide (TiO2). These nano particles, when mixed with alcohol - like in the case of deodorants - and sprayed on clean clothes prove to be excellent stain cutters.

"The TiO2 nano particles get trapped between fibres of the cloth and form a protective coat. The moment a tough stain like say turmeric enriched curry falls on the your nano-treated shirt or top, one just has to leave it in the sun for two to three hours and the stain vanishes instantly," says C Balasubramanian, senior scientist at FCIPT.

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"The sun's ultraviolet rays activate the TiO2 which helps oxygen from atmosphere to convert to radical oxygen that reacts with stain molecules and breaks it down - thereby removing stains. This process is called a self-cleaning cloth," Balasubramanian explained.

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Once sprayed, the TiO2 coat remains for more than 20 washes. Balasubramanian adds, "Normally, preparing TiO2 through a chemical process involves several steps over many days. At FCIPT we have prepared a process to produce nano particles of high purity in large quantities through plasma treatment in 2 to 3 minutes flat," the scientist said.

Dr S K Nema, senior scientist at FCIPT, said, "We have developed a system where textile rolls are passed through plasma which modifies the surface of the textile up to a few nano meters."

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On Tuesday, FCIPT will enter into an MoU with Man Made Textile Research Association, Surat, to implement in-line plasma treatment in textile manufacturing.