wednesday1 Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 An engineer from the University of Sheffield and a fashion designer have developed a way to make clothes that can clean the air using a special laundry additive. The liquid additive known as CatClo (Catalytic Clothing) adds nanoparticles of titanium oxide to the fabric of clothing. When exposed to sunlight, these particles react with nitrogen oxides in the air and oxidise them into the fabric. The treated pollutants are odourless and colourless and are removed harmlessly as the wearer sweats or when the clothes are next washed, but the catalytic nanoparticles remain because they grip the fabric so tightly. One person wearing clothes treated with CatClo would remove an average of 5g of nitrogen oxides from the air each day, roughly equivalent to the amount produced by the average family car, according to its developers. http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/energy-and-environment/news/catclo-treated-fabric-removes-nitrogen-oxides-from-the-air/1014057.article Cheaper than a wind turbine or solar panels if you're into doing your bit to save the planet I suppose! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalman Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 That man is not an engineer, he's professor of polymer chemistry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert_Baehr Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 An engineer from the University of Sheffield and a fashion designer have developed a way to make clothes that can clean the air using a special laundry additive. The liquid additive known as CatClo (Catalytic Clothing) adds nanoparticles of titanium oxide to the fabric of clothing. When exposed to sunlight, these particles react with nitrogen oxides in the air and oxidise them into the fabric. The treated pollutants are odourless and colourless and are removed harmlessly as the wearer sweats or when the clothes are next washed, but the catalytic nanoparticles remain because they grip the fabric so tightly. One person wearing clothes treated with CatClo would remove an average of 5g of nitrogen oxides from the air each day, roughly equivalent to the amount produced by the average family car, according to its developers. http://www.theengineer.co.uk/sectors/energy-and-environment/news/catclo-treated-fabric-removes-nitrogen-oxides-from-the-air/1014057.article Cheaper than a wind turbine or solar panels if you're into doing your bit to save the planet I suppose! When you're considering Oxides of NOtrogen as pollutants in air, the usual two are NO - Nitric Oxide and NO2 - Nitrogen Dioxide. If these jeans are going to oxidise NO and NO2 further, then into what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obelix Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 When you're considering Oxides of NOtrogen as pollutants in air, the usual two are NO - Nitric Oxide and NO2 - Nitrogen Dioxide. If these jeans are going to oxidise NO and NO2 further, then into what? N2 and O2 basically. It's a reverse of the reaction where they are combusted in the car engine, using the TiO2 as a catalyst and UV from the sun as an energy input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obelix Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 That man is not an engineer, he's professor of polymer chemistry. Pah. He was a lowly Dr when I last talked with him ;-) Nice to see he's got a chair though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalman Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 N2 and O2 basically. It's a reverse of the reaction where they are combusted in the car engine, using the TiO2 as a catalyst and UV from the sun as an energy input. I think what he's getting at is that this would be a reduction, not an oxidation. NO isn't difficult to oxidise, it goes to NO2 as soon as it hits the air, but if you're going to oxidise NO2 the only realistic place to go is nitric acid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalman Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Looks like the answer is in this paper - it does convert it into nitrates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert_Baehr Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 If you were going to oxidise the nitrogen further ... why not go for trinitramide? It's not 'rocket science' - but it's pretty good rocket fuel. 'Catalytic converter clothing' might be a good idea ... but for what percentage of its working life would it be worn? (If you're going to use solar UV as the power source, that would reduce the operating cycle considerably.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obelix Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 Looks like the answer is in this paper - it does convert it into nitrates. Interesting read. I must be thinking of a different scheme then to regenerate it back to N2/O2 Nice thing about TiO2 is it's rather safe so you can just coat things with it - after all it's been in white emulsion for decades now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metalman Posted October 21, 2012 Share Posted October 21, 2012 If you were going to oxidise the nitrogen further ... why not go for trinitramide? It's not 'rocket science' - but it's pretty good rocket fuel. 'Catalytic converter clothing' might be a good idea ... but for what percentage of its working life would it be worn? (If you're going to use solar UV as the power source, that would reduce the operating cycle considerably.) Strikes me that the idea of painting it onto buildings would give you much more surface area and sunlight exposure than washing it into some pairs of jeans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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