There has been many trials to reach fabrics that can clean itself, the University of California, Davis researchers developed such cotton fabrics that can get rid of pesticides by breaking down the toxic chemicals and get rid of bacteria by killing it.
Some researchers used titanium dioxide, that is able to absorb ultraviolet light and oxidize the organic material which lead to cleaned fabrics.
Mingce Long of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Deyong Wu of the Hubei University for Nationalities in Hubei, China, have reached to a new fabric that will clean itself by exposing the clothes to sunlight.
Their fabric uses a coating made from a compound of titanium dioxide, the white material used in everything from white paint to foods to sunscreen lotions. Titanium dioxide breaks down dirt and kills microbes when exposed to some types of light. It already has found uses in self-cleaning windows, kitchen and bathroom tiles, odor-free socks and other products. Self-cleaning cotton fabrics have been made in the past, the authors note, but they self-clean thoroughly only when exposed to ultraviolet rays. So they set out to develop a new cotton fabric that cleans itself when exposed to ordinary sunlight.
Their report describes cotton fabric coated with nanoparticles made from a compound of titanium dioxide and nitrogen. They show that fabric coated with the material removes an orange dye stain when exposed to sunlight. Further dispersing nanoparticles composed of silver and iodine accelerates the discoloration process. The coating remains intact after washing and drying.