Gandhinagar institute rolls out tech to make self-cleaning cloth

AHMEDABAD: For housewives, working women and even men struggling with stubborn stains from clothes, help has come from an unexpected quarter. 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.
The FCIPT has developed nano particle powder wherein titanium metal is vaporized with plasma to form titanium dioxide (TiO2).These nano particles, when mixed with alcohol -like in 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 nanotreated 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.
"The sun's ultraviolet rays activates the TiO2 which help oxygen from atmosphere to convert to radical oxygen that reacts with stain molecules and breaks it down -thereby removing stains. This pro cess is called a self-cleaning cloth," Balasubramanian explained. The process was demonstrated on Friday at FCIPT center an industry interaction event.
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. On Tuesday, FCIPT will sign an MoU with Man Made Tex tile Research Association (MMTRA), Surat, to implement in-line plasma treatment in textile manufacturing.
The project is funded by department of science and technology and headed by Engineer-SF, FCIPT, Vishal Jain.
"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.
This drastically reduces shrinking of woollen cloth as well eliminates the woollen cloth's prickly properties. This process also improves sweat absorption in cotton and enhances colour depth in clothes," says Dr S K Nema,senior scientist at FCIPT.