Bio-functional fashion

Filed in archive on June 21, 2006

Now thanks to nanotechnology your attire can be tres chic . . . and sniff out lethal biological agents.

Researchers at Wilkes University in Pennsylvania are working to turn ordinary clothing into a bacteria-killing garments that sense body odor, infectious disease, or the presence of biological agents. According to report at nanotechwire.

The ability to coat fabrics with nano-particles allows for the creation of bio-functional coatings for applications such as anti-bacterial fabrics and bio-sensors that can do everything from warn you when you are in the presence of a biological attack to greatly improving fire retardant properties in all kinds of fabrics, to monitoring blood sugar in sweat, according to Wilkes engineering professor Ali Razavi.

Dr. Razavi and his colleagues received a $120,000 Keystone Innovation Grant that will be matched by Wilkes, to design and market a 12 inch roll-to-roll machine capable of coating fabrics with nano-particles of various materials. The project is scheduled to be completed in 12 to 18 months.

The project doesn't stop at the prototype stage - the grant requires that the product be brought to market by establishing a start-up business. "We have put our reputations on the line that we can take this all the way from research and development to large scale production to marketing the product," Razavi said.

Hopefully they can work all the bugs out. Nothing kills a good time like having your date's body odor set off your clothing's "lethal biological agents" warning.