Self-cleaning laundry may be on the way 衣服自我清潔的時代可能快要來臨了！

Imagine doing laundry in a flash -- just by hanging your clothes outside. Or what if you could get rid of that coffee stain just by standing under a bright light?
想像一下只要把衣服掛在外面就能在一瞬間就把衣服給洗好，或著是只要你站在一道很亮的光下就能夠去掉咖啡污漬？
Researchers in Australia say they have found a way to alter fabric so that stains disappear after a few minutes of sun exposure.
澳洲的研究者表示他們找到一種方法能夠改變布料，讓污漬在陽光曝曬下幾分鐘內就會消失不見。
They dip the fabric into a special solution that coats it with microscopic copper and silver particles. When hit with light, these particles jump to life and act a bit like bleach.
他們將布料浸泡在一種特別的溶液當中，讓布料外面能夠多一層微小的銅和銀分子，當布料碰到光，這些分子就會立刻開始活躍，變得有一點像是漂白水。
"They get excited, then they degrade organic matter," one of the researchers, Rajesh Ramanathan, told CNNMoney on Wednesday. The tiny materials don't eat into the cotton "because cotton is cellulose -- is very tough."
研究者之一的Rajesh Ramanathan在星期三向CNNMoney表示：「它們開始變得活躍，然後開始分解有機物」微小的物質不會侵蝕到棉花，「因為棉花是纖維素，纖維素是非常堅韌的。」
Ramanathan is part of a team from the Ian Potter NanoBioSensing Facility at RMIT University in Melbourne.
Ramanathan是墨爾本皇家理工大學伊恩·波特奈米生物感應機構的團隊中的一員。
Ramanathan said he and the team successfully tested the process on polyester and nylon fabrics too.
Ramanathan表示他和團隊也在聚酯纖維和尼龍布料上測試成功。
And if you want to wash your clothes, you still can. The researchers discovered that the coating continued to eat away at stains even after 15 washes. (Some stain-resistant nanotechnology clothing have been found to stop working after just one wash).
還有如果你想，你還是可以洗你的衣服，研究者發現衣服的保護層就算在洗了15次之後還能夠發揮作用（另外也有發現有一些使用防污奈米科技的衣服在洗了一次就失去效用了。）
Silver has been a known antimicrobial element for centuries. The ancient Greeks and Romans put silver coins in their water to prevent bacteria from growing. Today, many medical garments and wound dressings are treated with silver for the same purpose.
數百年銀一直是廣為人知的抗菌劑，古希臘和古羅馬將銀幣放入水中防止細菌滋生，現今，為了這個目的許多醫療服裝和創傷敷料都有使用銀。
A few years ago, researchers in China found a way to make self-cleaning fabrics too. But their process used different particles and took more than 18 hours to coat the fabric and for the stains to start disappearing.
幾年前，中國的研究者也發現了製作自我清潔的衣料的發法，但是他們的過程中是使用不同的粒子，而且需要超過18個小時才能讓溶劑覆蓋衣料並讓污漬開始消失。
In contrast, this new process can coat and clean the fabric with the micro-materials in less than 40 minutes.
相反的，新的做法能夠在40分鐘內用微小物質覆蓋並清潔衣料。
Ramanathan said he hopes that the experiments will convince textile manufacturers to treat their materials with this solution during the production process.
Ramanthan表示他希望這些實驗能夠說服紡織品生產商在製作過程中使用到這個溶液。
Bottling it up and selling it in the form a one-step detergent could be another option. But he says he wants to make self-cleaning laundry easy for consumers to take advantage of.
將它瓶裝並如洗衣精一般販售也是另一個選項，但是他表示他希望能夠創造自我清潔的衣物，為消費者創造效益。
原文網址：http://goo.gl/wcK210



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