In 2006, "Popular Science" magazine ran a story claiming that by 2011 we would no longer have to clean our houses. That was optimistic, and sadly it was not accurate. We still have to clean our homes frequently. But the piece brought up some good points and was at least accurate in-part. With numerous nanotechnology-based products available today, we are able to spend a ton less time cleaning our homes, our clothes and our automobiles.
A lot of this technology is based on titanium dioxide. When exposed to the ultraviolet rays of sunlight, it reacts in a fashion that breaks down dust molecularly and essentially zaps it away. It uses the light in an analogous way that plants use it in photosynthesis. While green, growing things use sunlight to turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, titanium dioxide uses daylight to turn bacteria into hydrogen, CO2 and other elements that are melted away into the air instead of remaining on the surface.
In addition to its property of breaking down dust using daylight, titanium dioxide also reacts with water. Water beads on its surface, rolling off and collecting any dirt and dust with it as it goes. This is also known as the lotus-effect, named after the leaves of the lotus plant. The beading on the surface of the leaf causes the water to roll off, basically washing the trail they follow as they go.
The gigantic advantages of titanium dioxide used as a coating and built into surfaces is that dirt won't build up normally thanks to the photosynthesis-like action, and when it does, it is going to be washed away thanks to the water-beading properties found in several common products like car polish. Some landmark buildings around the world have been sprayed with this type of nanotechnology so as to keep their facades cleaner and to reduce the effect of age.
The usage of this indoors poses a difficulty right now, due to the need for sunlight. But research is generally moving the process forward.
A lot of this technology is based on titanium dioxide. When exposed to the ultraviolet rays of sunlight, it reacts in a fashion that breaks down dust molecularly and essentially zaps it away. It uses the light in an analogous way that plants use it in photosynthesis. While green, growing things use sunlight to turn carbon dioxide into oxygen, titanium dioxide uses daylight to turn bacteria into hydrogen, CO2 and other elements that are melted away into the air instead of remaining on the surface.
In addition to its property of breaking down dust using daylight, titanium dioxide also reacts with water. Water beads on its surface, rolling off and collecting any dirt and dust with it as it goes. This is also known as the lotus-effect, named after the leaves of the lotus plant. The beading on the surface of the leaf causes the water to roll off, basically washing the trail they follow as they go.
The gigantic advantages of titanium dioxide used as a coating and built into surfaces is that dirt won't build up normally thanks to the photosynthesis-like action, and when it does, it is going to be washed away thanks to the water-beading properties found in several common products like car polish. Some landmark buildings around the world have been sprayed with this type of nanotechnology so as to keep their facades cleaner and to reduce the effect of age.
The usage of this indoors poses a difficulty right now, due to the need for sunlight. But research is generally moving the process forward.
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We may not yet have houses that clean themselves like the idea in "Popular Science" expected, but we may have almost self-cleaning autos thanks to the nanotechnology utilized in CeNano.net's Nanotol car polish.
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