Posted on 02/08/2006 10:12:06 AM PST by LibWhacker
Cleaning bathrooms may become a thing of the past with new coatings that will do the job for you.
Researchers at the University of New South Wales are developing new coatings they hope will be used for self-cleaning surfaces in hospitals and the home.
Led by Professor Rose Amal and Professor Michael Brungs of the ARC Centre for Functional Nanomaterials, a research team is studying tiny particles of titanium dioxide currently used on outdoor surfaces such as self-cleaning windows.
The particles work by absorbing ultraviolet light below a certain wavelength, exciting electrons and giving the particles an oxidising quality stronger than any commercial bleach.
These nanoparticles then kill microbes and break down organic compounds. And because surfaces coated with titanium dioxide have another property called 'superhydrophilicity' -- meaning droplets do not form -- water runs straight off the surface, washing as it goes.
Presently, titanium dioxide can only be activated by the UVA present in sunlight. But the UNSW team is working on ways to activate titanium dioxide with indoor light.
The team is modifying titanium dioxide nanoparticles with other elements such as iron and nitrogen so they can absorb light at longer wavelengths.
Lab trials show that glass coated with the new nanoparticles can be activated by visible light from a lamp to kill Escherchia coli.
"If you've got this on tiles or shower screens you don't need so many chemical agents," says Professor Amal.
So far the team has been working at laboratory scale. "It's probably a year before we can talk to industry and test outside the lab," says Professor Amal.
So it's a self-disinfecting bathroom, not a self cleaning bathroom. And here I was imagining some robotic/water stream contraption thing that made it look spotless...
Already done, I think Tim Allen had one of those in "Home Improvement".
Husbands have had these for years.
So9
Paging Bill Clinton...
LOL ! I know what you mean!
My S-I-L swears she will marry the first man she meets that knows what the back of a toilet looks like her. I told her she can't marry her brother..........
I was thinking they could coat every square inch of the interior of a house with this stuff, put a big drain in the middle of the floor, sprinklers in the ceiling, and a person could just hit a button when he left in the morning, and come home to a spotless house in the evening... Like a giant dishwasher.
Being a single guy, this is outstanding. Put me down for 2 bathrooms and a kitchen! :-)
I'm still waiting for my Linux-powered toaster.
And my flying car.
All I want is a true self cleaning litterbox. And no, none of the automated ones work well.
Yes, indoors, it will require a water stream. Beats having to scrub, or knowing somone never did scrub when they were supposed to.
I have patented a technique for self cleaning laundry as well, especially suitable for bachelors.
What you do is leave filthy clothing in a huge mound, akin to a compose pile. The bacteria eats all the dirt and grime, leaving the clothings totally clean. The exothermic reaction from the bacterial colony generates heat which removes all wrinkles from the clothing.
Don't you already have a blowtorch? ;-P
No doubt, this new high tech toilet is a result of threatened tightened border security and a fear over the lack of finding an illegal alien to do a job Americans won't do.
I like your thinking. However - what about the linens and upholstery? Guess all would have to be vinyl. Something to think about - I could grow to love vinyl.
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