WORLD
China develops UV resistant water-proof cotton cloth
Baku, April 30 (AZERTAC). Chinese researchers have successfully developed cotton cloth that is water-proof, resistant to Ultra Violet radiation and which needs less of washing.
In a three-step treatment process that involves zinc oxide, silica and other materials, a group of material researchers at China`s Northeast Normal University have developed these cotton clothes, according to a blog by Robert Overlords in Forbes portal.
The process that takes about a day would make the clothes resistant to UV radiation and keeps the cloth water-proof.
In a paper published in ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Lingling Wang and his team speaks elaborately of a process that involves using zinc oxide nanorods and zinc oxide crystallites that create protective coating on cotton.
The three-step process has been described in Physorg.
Researchers soaked a piece of cotton cloth in Zinc Oxide nano crystals for 12 hrs and later put that in a high pressure steamer saturated in a zinc acetate hydrate solution for 48 hours at 95° C.
Resultantly, a zinc oxide seed layer was formed.
Subsequently, the seeded cotton was again put in the steamer in an aqueous solution of zinc nitrate hydrate and hexamethylenediamine (HMT) for 5 hours at 95° C.
After rinsing it and drying, the cotton developed waterproofing property. Later on, by dipping the material alternately in polyethylenimine (PEI) and silicate solutions, the researchers developed UV resistant property as well.
Now, the reserachers are seeking ways to make the process function in real-world conditions.
Once through, the process can create durable cotton clothes that need to be washed less frequently.