By David Ponce
Oh those scientists, always looking out for mankind. Now researchers at the University of California, Davis, have come up with a self-cleansing cloth. They’ve taken regular old cotton and covered it with a new compound called 2-anthraquinone carboxylic acid, or 2-AQC. When exposed to light, 2-ACQ releases chemicals (hydroxyl radicals and hydrogen peroxide) that harm bacteria and break down other organic compounds. More importantly, perhaps, is that 2-ACQ has been shown to bond strongly to cellulose and doesn’t simply wash off like other self-cleaning products. Not that you’d want to wash them. Because we all know what we’re going to be doing with this stuff. And that’s not washing the heck out of it. Just to see…
Better yet, the fabric may not be that far away from hitting the market. Although still at the research phase and “although 2-AQC is more expensive than other compounds, the researchers say that cheaper equivalents are available.”
[ UC Davis Page ] VIA [ MedGadget ]
