here - Catalytic Clothing

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Wednesday 15th February, 2012
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Hi-Tech Denim Jeans Could Clean Up
London's Air Pollution
- Material that eats dirty air for fun on display at the London Design
Festival
Monday, 12th September 2011
Tweet
HI-TECH denim jeans that use
nanotechnology to stop air
pollution are to go on show at the
London Design Festival, which
starts later this week.
Given recent reports that show
London's air to be among the
filthiest in Europe, a clothing
solution could be just up London's
street. Especially if that street is Oxford Street or any other area with a
high number of pedestrians.
"A significant reduction in the level of air borne pollutants in a large city
such as London could be achieved if, for every metre of pavement width,
30 people wearing Catalytic Clothes walked past each minute," say
developers Catalytic Clothing.
The jeans, or any other clothing fitted with the new technology,
"harness the power of a photocatalyst to break down air borne
pollutants," by using light as an energy source.
"When the light shines on the photocatalyst, the electrons in the
material are rearranged and they become more reactive," adds the
Catalytic Clothing website.
Further reactions then "cause pollutants to break down into non-harmful
chemicals".
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Any material can become a pollution eater with the addition of a sort-of
conditioner containing the photocatalysts, but different materials need
different catalyst set-ups.
For the purposes of demonstration, jeans fit the bill since, "there are
more pairs of jeans in existence than there are people on the earth," as
the Catalytic Clothing people put it.
The nanotech denim – developed by a team at Sheffield University and
another at the London College of Fashion - has been formed into a
display called The Field of Jeans for the London Design Festival, which
runs from 17-25 September.
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Jimmy Choo for men?
Universities create air-purifying pair of
jeans
Awesome arm candy
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STYLE NEWS
12/09/2011 11:40 am
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Keyboard jeans? Really?
Two English universities have teamed together to create the world’s
first pair of air-purifying jeans.
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Members of the public donated 30 pairs of pants to help create an
environmentally friendly pair of jeans that helps to break down pollutants
in the atmosphere and purify the air.
Researchers from Sheffield University and the London College of Fashion
teamed together to create the ‘Field of Jeans’ - an art expo showcasing
the possibilities that fashion and science can have together.
The ‘Catalytic Clothing’ venture hopes to inspire other fashion designers
and scientists to think outside the box.
Photocatalysts are sewn into the jeans, which use light to speed up the
breakdown of pollutants, much like a normal catalyst. The jeans use
nanotechnology to break down pollutants in the atmosphere.
Sheffield University scientist Professor Tony Ryan said, "There are more
pairs of jeans than people on the earth. We are developing something
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The jeans are being displayed in an exhibition being held at Sheffield’s
Peace Gardens.
Professor Helen Storey, a designer and artist at LCF added, "Catalytic
Facebook social plugin
Clothing is the most challenging, globally relevant project I have ever
attempted. Behind almost all-human advancement lies a science.
Through my work, I try to share and involve the public with these
possibilities."
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Jeans To Clean The Air?
Posted by Jason on September 12,
2011
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LATEST MEDIA, NEWS, IMAGE AND BLOG POSTS
Photo cred: Gavin Duthie
Catalytic Clothing is betting they can convince you to wear clothing that turns
people into air purifiers.
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Guardian:
Using Lilliput-like nanotechnology, the familiar blue material
breaks down pollutants from industry and road traffic with
photocatalysts added to the cloth.
The system, devised by Sheffield university and the London
College of Fashion, follows similar ‘smart’ applications at Bolton
University, which generate electricity through minute solar and
movement cells in fabric.
From the company’s FAQ page:
5. How are the pollutants broken down?
When the light shines on the photocatalyst, the electrons in
the material are rearranged and they become more reactive.
These electrons are then able to react with the water in the air
and break it apart into 2 radicals. A radical is an extremely
reactive molecule. These radicals then react with the pollutants
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reactive molecule. These radicals then react with the pollutants
and cause them to break down into non-harmful chemicals.
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6. What happens to the pollutants after they’ve been
broken down?
The Great Lincoln Statue Facing South
Controversy Of 2011.
The Catalytic Clothing technology is designed to breakdown
the pollutants straight away. However, some pollutants may
become attached without being broken down. In this case, the
pollutants will be washed off during subsequent laundering. This
actually already happens with normal clothing.
Hilariously Unhinged Occupy Wall St.
Protester Cries: “HELP US!!!” NSFW
7. Is this technology used in any other products?
Photocatalysts have been incorporated into several
commercially available products that possess de-polluting
properties. These products include paints, cements and paving
stones.
8. How is the technology delivered to the surface of the
clothing?
The photocatalyst is delivered to the surface of the clothing
during the traditional laundry procedure as an additive within a
standard product such as a fabric conditioner. The active agent is
packaged within a shell that is attracted towards, and
subsequently binds to, the surface of the clothing during the
washing cycle.
9. Why do we need mass participation to produce a
noticeable reduction in the level of pollution?
Although any garment that is treated with the product
becomes active, a single garment is only able to remove a small
proportion of the air borne pollutants. Therefore, a large number
of individuals, all acting together, is required to produce a
noticeable reduction in the level of pollution.
10. How many people would need to participate to
produce a noticeable reduction in the level of pollution?
An estimate of the required level of uptake for the Catalytic
Clothing indicates that a significant reduction in the level of air
borne pollutants in a large city such as London could be achieved
if, for every metre of pavement width, 30 people wearing Catalytic
Clothes walked past each minute.
11. Would someone wearing Catalytic Clothing be at a
greater risk of exposure to pollutants?
No. The Catalytic Clothing technology won’t actively attract
any pollutants. Instead, it will break down anything that comes
within very close proximity of the photocatalyst’s surface.
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Field of Jeans exhibition in Sheffield's Winter Gardens showcaseing the world's first aair-purifying jeans.
Published on Tuesday 13 September 2011 06:00
WHEN contemplating a new pair of jeans, most people look at the fit and
the pricetag not their environmental credentials.
However, academics from Sheffield University have now teamed up with
the London College of Fashion to put on the “Field of Jeans” fashion show
with a difference.
The exhibition, which opened yesterday in Sheffield’s Peace Gardens and
Winter Gardens , showcases the world’s first “air-purifying” jeans.
Field of Jeans forms part of Catalytic Clothing, which aims to explore how
clothing and textiles can be used as a “catalytic surface to purify the air
we breathe.”
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Around 30 pairs of jeans in the display, donated by the public, have been
treated with a substance that enables them to break down pollutants from
the surrounding atmosphere.
Catalytic Clothing is the creation of unlikely collaborators Professor Helen
Storey, a practising artist and designer at London College of Fashion, and
Professor Tony Ryan, a scientist at Sheffield University.
Professor Ryan said: “Field of Jeans is the latest issue of Catalytic
Clothing and a beautiful manifestation of a deeply technical process. There
are more pairs of jeans than people on the earth.
“We are developing something that is both user-friendly and technically
excellent, to improve the urban environment.”
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Clean Jeans: The Next Step for Catalytic Clothing
14
Sep
Archives
In recent months, we’ve seen eco-friendly technology
take a great leap forward with the advent of catalytic
clothing. Designers at the London College of Fashion
worked with experts at the University of Sheffield to
produce the very first piece of catalytic fashion – a dress
that cleans the air around the wearer. While the catalytic
dress, titled Herself, is very beautiful, it’s hardly the most
practical piece of clothing – so why not create functional
workwear overalls and everyday catalytic clothing that
offers the same environmental advantage?
Designers have risen to the catalytic clothing challenge with “clean jeans”, applying
cutting-edge catalytic technology to classic fashion. Like the Herself dress, catalytic
jeans use titanium dioxide, a photocatalyst that reacts with light and oxygen,
producing peroxide which in turn breaks down airborne pollutants like nitrogen
oxides. Simply put, catalytic clothing allows wearers to effortlessly purify the air
around them.
February 2012
January 2012
stitched-in photocatalysts and displayed in Sheffield’s Peace Gardens. The catalytic
clothing exhibition also forms part of the University’s Project Sunshine, an initiative
that aims to tackle climate change by harnessing solar power with greater efficiency.
Classic denim jeans are among the most popular workwear trousers in the world,
and according to researchers at Sheffield there are currently more pairs of jeans on
the Earth than there are people. This makes jeans the obvious choice for the next
step in catalytic clothing. Jeans worn in urban settings would be particularly effective
– just imagine purifying catalytic technology breaking down pollutants in cities
worldwide! Catalytic clothing is a truly exciting scientific development, and we can
only hope that in the not-too-distant future, all clothing will come equipped with this
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To promote the introduction of catalytic denim jeans, Sheffield University and LCF
have created the “Field of Jeans” – 30 pairs of donated denims were modified with
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Posted on September 15th 2011
What if your jeans could help break down air pollutants from
traffic and factories.
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Baby once made her blue jeans talk but Project Sunshine makes its jeans work a
little bit harder.
RELATED
CATEGORIES
SUSTAINABILITY
FIELD OF JEANS
HELEN STOREY
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Researchers at Sheffield University in the UK teamed up with the folks at the London College of Fashion and developed a way by which jeans (yes, of the wardrobe-staple variety) can break down road traffic and industry pollutants.
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l
This research initiative, dubbed Project Sunshine, uses Lilliput-like
nanotechnology to break down pollutants with photocatalysts added to the cloth.
The project can be viewed as the Field of Jeans installation at Rootstein Hopkins Parade Ground at Chelsea College of Art & Design in London from 15 to 21
September 2011 as part of the London Design Festival.
Some 30 pairs of jeans arranged and mounted on bamboos.
The technology for the Field of Jeans is being developed under the leadership of
FABULOUS
EARRINGS – S013E
Helen Storey of the London College of Fashion and Tony Ryan of Sheffield
University.
l
Ryan told the Guardian: “Field of Jeans is a beautiful manifestation of a deeply
technical process. There are more pairs of jeans in existence than there are
people on the earth. We are developing something using both jeans and their
owners, that is both user-friendly and technically excellent.”
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Milan Shopping and Events
Catalytic Clothing: Against pollution
Posted by milanblogger | milan | Friday 16 September 2011 9:11 am
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It’s amazing how technology has advanced over the past 20 years, so much that some time
ago I found a poster of a museum exhibition on textile technology. I attended this show and I
must say, I was shocked with the progress of the textile industry and how it applied to
industrial jobs, aerospace, high performance sports, medicine, etc.. What I saw on that
occasion, was the connection of thattechnology with everyday clothing, but this changed a
few days ago when I found about anti-contamination clothing .. but .. What’s it all about?
onlyapartments
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The truth is that at first glance this looks more like a science fiction story than reality, but it
is not, it is the creation of catalytic clothes. These would have a component that traps
harmful particles and purifies the air while walking through a big city. This is the same
technology used in self-cleaning glass, which simply put, is a layer of titanium dioxide
nanoparticles, which generate free radicals upon contact with oxygen and sunlight. The
effect this technology would have in the fabric means that the nitrogen oxides released by
hundreds of vehicles and machines in the city, are captured by the fabric and transformed
into harmless nitrates, so it would help the air flowing around the person wearing the clothes
cleaner.
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Such is the wonder that the fashion industry promises with its new “Super Couple”, the
chemical industry, that they ensure that if one million people will always use this type of
fabric, in a city of about 8 million inhabitants, it could decrease by a 5% to a10% the
contamination of the city, fascinating is not it?.
February 2012
M T W T F S S
Until we can get one of these “outfits” is a good idea to be aware of our environment and
take better care of our cities.
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FASHION TOPICS:
Catalytic Clothing from Helen Storey Foundation on Vimeo.
Blossom trees, gelati, gallivanting about the city; Spring has hit. After a magical
weekend in the country I am sun drenched, exhausted and happy to be home in the
city, the only thing I wistfully glance towards the outskirts for is the fresh air.
Spending more time outside has made me more aware of the air I'm breathing.
Especially in cities, cars, buses and trucks decrease the air quality and contribute
anthropogenic carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
Across the world countries have started to clamp down on emissions, which has
started to make progress in improving air quality. In Hong Kong the eternal smog is
slowly starting to dissipate and I saw blue skies last April in Beijing. Counter to this,
the rapid growth in population who need motor vehicles for mobility thanks to my
pet hate, urban sprawl, makes pollution control regulation much harder to manage.
This is an issue that is being tackled by Professors Helen Storey and Tony Ryan
who combine their fashion and chemistry knowledge to design garments that purify
the air around a wearer. Christened Catalytic Clothing, the garments use a
photocatalyst process to break down air borne pollutants. The photocatalytic
garments don't react themselves, but break down particles in the air, using energy
from light. The clothes break down pollutants, any pollutants that aren't broken
down and become attached to garments wash off in normal washing machines,
and this already happens with normal clothing. To make the catalytic clothes, the
photocatalyst is delivered to the fabric surface during washing. The active agent is
attracted and bound to the surface of the garment, and when the garment dries is is
ready to purify air. The technology doesn't actively attract pollutants, rather breaking
down anything that comes close enough. Nitrous oxide is converted to soluble
nitrate while volatile organics and converted into fatty acids and soaps. Now I'm no
chemist but I would much rather take a bath with soaps then volatile organics and
nitrous oxide.
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Frenchy Christmas Gift Guide
This is great gift guide. I think good idea for gifts can be
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These garments sound amazing to me, image pure air even in congested city
centers, so how long until this laundry additive is in all of our detergents? The
Catalytic Clothing estimates 2 years, and I assume they will have to do some
serious testing to make sure the photocatalytic cells bind to different fabrics without
harming people or the environment. Also as the impact of each garment is small
(for every metre of pavement in a busy city, 30 have to walk past per minute to
cleanse the air fully) a large number of people need to be wearing the garments.
POSTED BY JACEK77
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a few good ones here, but way too many people who have
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Dellal! Please!
I'll be one.
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What a bunch of classless individuals. Really??? Putting
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Miranda Kerr to have to employ such wannabe try hards.
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October 2, 2011
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Catalytic Clothing
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communication
craft craftivism
Fashion designer Helen Storey has
collaborated with scientist Tony Ryan to
computing conference
create a beautiful and radical new concept
which endeavors to purify the air that we
breath through the surface of our clothes.
Digital
You can hear Helen talk about the project
on Radio Four and see the variety of
garments created thus far on their web
generative Haptic
site.
molecular imprinting new materials paper
DJCAD
Eggs
Entrepreneurship fabrication fashion
of things irony
Interaction internet
Jewellery knit
QRCodes research rfid science spaces
Catalytic Clothing harnesses the power of
a photocatalyst to break down air borne
technology TED
pollutants. An estimate of the required
level of uptake for the Catalytic Clothing
indicates that a significant reduction in the level of air borne pollutants in a large city such as London
textiles
the body
visualisation wearable. electronics
Blog contributors
could be achieved if, for every metre of pavement width, 30 people wearing Catalytic Clothes walked
past each minute. The clothing might be available in two years time.
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2 comments
Dave Sanchez said: November 22, 20116:21 pm
Im sure that Im going to post this in my research blog soon!
Reply ↓
Dave Sanchez said: November 22, 20116:40 pm
Here is another example of how this catalisis also can be used in the future “living buildings” http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/14/tech/innovation/living-buildings-carbon/index.html
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Our clothing could clean the air, UK
scientists say
Scientists have long been trying to make clean cars, but now they have taken efforts to
purify the air we breathe to a whole new level. Catalytic clothing might just be the hot new
item this fall.
Although the mighty steel production industry that once fed the
northern English city of Sheffield buckled under the weight of
cheap imports years ago, the air that fills its streets could still not
be described as clean. But if local scientists get their way, that
might be about to change, and Sheffield might acquire an
altogether more innovative claim to fame.
These 'clean jeans' were recently
demonstrated in London
Tony Ryan, the pro-vice chancellor for the faculty of science at
the University of Sheffield, is convinced that the clothes we wear,
could play an important role in cleaning the air.
He describes the garments as catalytic clothing – and the way they work is similar to a catalytic
converter on a car. He proposes the use of titanium dioxide nano-particles, which can help break down
air pollutants such as nitrogen oxide produced by cars.
This new design was demonstrated in London at an outdoor festival just last month.
"The key to how to do it is currently used in self-cleaning glass and self-cleaning architectural
coatings," Ryan told Deutsche Welle. "They use titanium dioxide that's in such a form that when it
sees sunlight and oxygen it makes bleach, it makes peroxide. And then the peroxide will react with
pollution - it will take it out of the air."
Easy to use
Titanium dioxide can be sprayed onto or washed into clothes, and as
a photo catalyst, it oxidizes pollutants in the air when light shines on
it. Car fumes are broken down into largely harmless chemicals,
which literally come out in the wash.
As Ryan points out, adding the nano-particles to detergents would
only put the price up by some 0.10 euros ($0.13) per laundry cycle.
Tony Ryan (left) said that adding
nano-particles to detergents would
add a small cost
To achieve a noticeable effect on air quality, 30 people wearing
catalytic clothing would have to walk past one meter of pavement
every minute. That volume of pedestrian traffic, however, is not unusual in a busy city.
The root of the problem
But not everyone is jumping up and down at the prospect of Ryan's new rags. Simon Birkett of the
non-profit organization Clean Air in London says off-setting pollution is not the solution.
"The long-term answer is tackling harmful emissions at their source," he said, and added that includes
keeping the oldest diesel vehicles away.
"And you can fit what is called selective catalytic reduction equipment to vehicles which cleans up the
harmful emissions at their source, rather than letting those pollutants get into the air, and then trying
to clean them up afterwards through something like catalytic clothing or paint."
A genuine possibility?
Traffic in Sheffield pumps some 8,000 tons of nitrogen oxide into
the atmosphere every year. To comply with incoming EU
regulations the city needs to reduce that figure by 1,000 tons a
year, which amounts to three tons a day.
Despite skepticism from some quarters, Tony Ryan says that with
enough people on board, his catalytic clothing could help reach
that goal.
Catalytic clothing is unlikely to
have a significant effect on large
cities like London anytime soon
"If half the population of Sheffield, which is half a million people,
were wearing catalytic clothing they would be able to bring the
level of nitrous oxide down to well below the legal limit," he said.
He believes that once people realize they have the power to do something about their air quality, they
will put pressure on companies to provide the technology. He is already talking to detergent
manufacturers who have expressed an interest in including the nano-particles in their future products.
Reporter: Lars Bevanger, Sheffield / tkw
Editor: Cyrus Farivar
Date 04.10.2011
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During Gulf oil spill, air pollution linked to surprising source
In 2010, as oil continued to pour into the Gulf of Mexico, a team of scientists visited the spill site to measure
pollutant levels - and shed new light on what might be a major player in urban air pollution. (11.03.2011)
Germany leads the charge in low-energy homes
EU backing for zero-energy buildings has given the German construction industry a boost. As materials become
less expensive, the passive house, a German invention, is likely to become a more common sight. (03.02.2011)
Campaigners target sandblasted jeans on health grounds
Campaigners are eager to put an end to the practice of sandblasting jeans because of a link with the disease
silicosis. In Turkey, where the practice is now banned, thousands of ex-workers are thought to be suffering.
(21.12.2010)
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How fashion brands are pushing the boundaries of science.
BY NICK COLLINS | 07 OCTOBER 2011
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A pair of jeans that combats global warming might sound like desperately poor
science fiction or the garb of an uninspiring Defra-sponsored superhero. But the
creators of pollution-busting clothes that clean the air around them as the wearer
walks down the street are absolutely serious. So-called 'catalytic clothing' speeds up
the process by which the atmosphere cleans itself of damaging particles. This
futuristic concept is merely the next step in an intensifying marriage of chemistry and
catwalks, of substance and style, that is at odds with the often polarised worlds of art
and science. Beginning with the invention of nylon pantyhose by Allan Gant Sr in 1
959, fashion and technology have gradually been brought together as new materials
and techniques opened up countless possibilities for designers.
Related articles
Major brands are among those leading the charge, with the
Japanese high-street giant Uniqlo launching the Innovation
Project Japan (IPJ), which it describes as a 'revolutionary'
new range of clothing that is lighter, more convenient and
more technologically advanced than ever before. Using
teams of engineers based at factories in Japan, designers
have created everything from breathable, water-repellent down jackets to everyday
trousers, T-shirts and zip-up tops that absorb and disperse moisture in the same way
as an athlete's vest. Some items are anti-bacterial, which stops them smelling, while
others protect the wearer against harmful UV rays.
Dressing up for
Downton
Best foot forward
Such a scientific approach to clothing is hardly surprising considering the modern
obsession with technology, but Naoki Takazawa, Uniqlo's design director, insists,
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'This is not vanity, it is not using technology just because it is there. There are details
on the clothing we develop, but these come at the end of the process and they all
contribute somehow to the function of the clothing.' The next step for Takazawa will
be formalwear, including breathable shirts for workers in Japanese offices, where
regular power cuts resulting from the Fukushima nuclear disaster can make
temperatures unbearable. He adds, 'This is not a normal fashion design process… this
is solving problems. The object of this clothing is to make people's lives easier.'
Uniqlo is not the only brand using cutting-edge technology to make ever more
advanced and functional clothes. Ermenegildo Zegna has produced ultra-light 'zero
weight' suiting and jackets using a blend of wool and silk that weighs only 145g per
metre compared with 200- 240g for a regular wool suit, and Patagonia, a specialist in
climbing and other outdoor wear, uses a three-layered insulation system aimed at
drawing out moisture while remaining warm and light. Patagonia also has a track
record of ecological engineering, having created a fleece from recycled plastic bottles
in 1993 and since adopted the use of recycled polyester across its range.
One step further along the technological scale comes catalytic clothing, which its
inventor, Prof Tony Ryan, pro-vice chancellor of Sheffield University's faculty of
science, claims could help combat the harmful emissions released by vehicle exhausts
in cities. An invisible coating of minute titanium dioxide particles is applied to the
surface of clothes, where it interacts with sunlight to make its electrons more reactive.
These break down water particles in the air into highly reactive molecules, which in
turn speed up the natural air purifying process by transforming pollutants into
harmless chemicals. The coating, which could be applied in the laundry and topped up
every few months, is especially suited to clothing because the volume of individual
fibres provides a vast surface area.
Ryan, who conceived the idea with Prof Helen Storey of the London College of
Fashion, says, 'This is basically a collaboration of art and science. We have a catalyst
manufacturer and a laundry manufacturer talking to each other, but it is not linked to
one brand, because to make a difference we need to reach lots of people. If a person
had clothes that were suitably treated they could take half a gram of nitrous oxide out
of the environment in a day. That means one million people could take half a ton, and
that does start to make a difference.'
Couture
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2012
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Nick Collins is The Daily Telegraph's science correspondent
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Week spring/summer
2012
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Truly awesome. RT @RaquelLaneri How fashion brands are pushing the boundaries of science.
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Nanotechnology within ‘The Field of Jeans’ could rid London’s air of pollutants.
Could a pair of high-tech jeans be the answer on how to clean up London’s air? Although
London is reported to be one of Europe’s cleaner cities, it inevitably boasts pollution. In order
to make London cleaner, the Greater London Authority is committed to implementing different
strategies to make the capital ‘cleaner, calmer, more enjoyable so that we can all lead better
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The jeans are fitted with nanotechnology and act as a catalyst to tackle pollution. The
nanotech denim has been developed by researchers at both the London College of Fashion
and at Sheffield University and were put on display at the London Design Festival, which was
held in September of this year. The range of jeans is called ‘The Field of Jeans’ and its
developers are known as Catalytic Clothes.
Talking about the potential impact wearing such nanotechnology clothes could have on the
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“A significant reduction in the level of air borne pollutants in a large city such as London could
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past each minute.”
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The clothes fitted with the nanotechnology work by acting as a photo catalyst to break down
pollutants in the air by using light as a source of energy.
“When the light shines on the photo catalyst, the electrons in the material are rearranged and
they become more reactive that then cause pollutants to break down into non-harmful
chemicals,” added Catalytic Clothes.
With jeans being the most single worn product, not just on London’s streets but, as Catalytic
Clothes puts it, “there are more pair of jeans in existence than there are people on earth”,
jeans certainly ‘fit the bill’ for the demonstrating of what has the potential to clean up
London’s air.
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The Catalyst Amongst The Fashion World
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The collection is called Catalytic Clothing. The pair have treated cotton with a photocatalyst that breaks
down pollutants in the air using light. As light hits this material the electrons in the clothing are
rearranged and become more reactive. The water in the air then reacts with these electrons and breaks it
up into 2 extremely reactive molecules (radicals). The radicals react with the pollutants and cause them
to break down into other chemicals that are non-harmful.
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These little eco warriors are attached to the surface of clothes in the same way you wash your clothes at
home, however the active ingredient is packed in a shell that is drawn to the fabric which binds to the
clothes, it’s simply added to the fabric conditioner.
This simple procedure behind an environment changing idea is incredibly achievable too, although large
amounts of individuals would need to wear the garments to reduce the level of pollution drastically.
Helen and Tony admit that to reduce the pollution of the air in London significantly, 30 people wearing
Catalytic Clothes would have to walk past every metre of pavement width, every minute, so it’s hoped
that this trend will catch on.
The pair does plan for this product to be available in 2 years time, so in the near future, we could all be
battling pollution with photocatalytic armour.
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Nano Patents and Innovations
Nano Patents and Innovations is dedicated to nanotechnology news, patents, markets,
products and research innovations
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2011
GOOGLE TRANSLATE
Clothes That Clean Up The Environment
Wearable catalytic surface
Sitting in his office, wearing his own pair of catalytic jeans, Professor Tony Ryan OBE scientist at the
University of Sheffield, explains how his collaboration with clothes designer and artist Professor Helen
Storey MBE at the London College of Fashion, began several years ago. She contacted him after he
appeared on a radio science show. Their first work together, called Wonderland, was based on exploring
sustainability in fashion. Their latest project is to show us how our clothes can be a catalytic surface to
purify the air around us as we go about our daily business.
Mobile air purifier
The idea for Catalytic Clothing came to Ryan in a meeting at the London College of Fashion. As he idly
worked out the surface area of someone’s clothes, he realised that it was the same as the surface area
per unit mass in a catalytic converter of a car. Thus the human perambulating catalytic system was born.
The catalyst cleans up nitric oxide, which in big cities is the biggest cause of air pollution and respiratory
diseases.
The Catalytic Clothing project launched with an air purifying dress from Helen’s design collection which
they retro-fitted with a spray catalyst. Their Field of Jeans concept is based on the fact that there are more
pairs of jeans in the world than there are people and it turns out, the catalyst works really well on jeans. As
Ryan says, ‘like a crop, the Field of Jeans does the environmental clean up.’
Laundry solution
The project is sponsored by sustainable cleaning products manufacturer, Ecover. The plan is to bring a
commercially viable clothes detergent to the supermarkets. Much like a 2 in 1 shampoo conditioner, the
process deposits the catalyst agent in the cloth while the used detergent is rinsed away. Ryan says one of
the challenges they faced was: ‘how do you make the right formulation so all the particles go on the cloth
and not down the drain?’
Always thinking about a sustainable future, Professor Ryan is on the alert for an affordable solution to
purifying water. His concern is that more children die of dysentery than malnutrition. He says ‘knowing that
the problem is there, our experience tells us that the flash of inspiration will come.’
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years I have worked with high-profile organisations
within the public, not-for-profit and corporate
sectors; and won awards from my industry. I now
Retail experts believe this social innovation could be a big hit
with retailers thanks to a growing demand for "functional
clothing." The study focuses on titanium dioxide, a chemical
run my own UK consultancy, Serendipity PR &
Media; I am a firm believer in the power of
serendipity...
Read More>>
known to be a fantastic catalyst in the breakdown of organic
pollutants. In fact, the material is already used in self-cleaning
windows, odour-free socks and stay-clean kitchen and
bathroom tiles.
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sent to your inbox
The team's breakthrough was to create a nanoparticle
(nanotechnology is the science of the very small) of an alcohol-
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based compound made up of chemicals - titanium dioxide and
nitrogen. To test the effectiveness of their social innovation
invention, the scientists marked the fabrics with an orange dye
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stain and exposed them to the sun. After two hours in the
sunlight, the team found 71 per cent of the stain had
disappeared. The experiment was repeated on the same cloth
five times with the same results. Moreover, washing and drying the material did not reduce its effectiveness. The
clothing industry are said to be paying attention to this process, especially if it can be rolled-out on an industrial
scale.
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Meanwhile, scientists at the University of Sheffield and the London College of Fashion in the U.K. are using science
and fashion to explore how to develop new types of social innovation textiles. These two organisations have created
Catalytic Clothing to see how clothing and textiles can be used to purify the air around the people wearing treated
clothes. Big retailers such as Wal-Mart in the U.S., and Marks and Spencers in the U.K. are keen to see how this
apparel develops, as it would dramatically enhance their basic clothing lines.
Catalytic Clothing also launched a film starring supermodel Erin O'Connor with music from Radiohead. The film
intertwines fashion, social innovation, science and music to create a message of inspiration to change the world.
Catalytic Clothing's message is a clear one with the tag line - "Join us. Shape your world." I believe that when we
come together are we able to make cool things happen.
Photo Credit: Thomas Fano
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Clothes that Keep You Warm and the Air Clean
Posted by Eavesdropper on Dec 27, 2011 9:01:17 PM
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Paradoxical Semiconductor
Cooling; by heating the material
(via Catalytic Clothing)
In humanity’s quest for sustainability and ecological preservation, people of all industries are
trying to make their products environmentally friendly. At Catalytic Clothing, they do not only want
to conserve the current environment but they also want to improve the condition of the air and
change today's “throw-away” culture.
It all started when one of two sisters, Kate Storey, found a flyer of a trust initiative intended to
bring scientist and artist together. Her sister, Helen Storey, had worked for a long time as a
fashion designer, dreaming up extravagant pieces of clothing for many clients including
Madonna. With the scientific influence from Kate caused Helen to become more interested in
science herself. After some informative reading and some intriguing fashion design depicting
biological structures like embryos and lungs, Helen decided to contact Tony Ryan, a chemist at
the University of Sheffield in the UK specializing in polymer technology. Ryan was taken by the concept.
Now several years later, Catalytic Clothing claims to have made clothing that has been treated
with titanium dioxide (TiO2), a photocatalyst. TiO2 is capable of reacting with Nitrogen Oxide
(NOx) and other volatile organics to purify the air. A similar method is already used in paints and
cements.
The electrons in TiO2 are rearranged when activated by light. This rearrangement more
effectively interacts with water molecules in the air that, in turn, are transformed into two radicals
(highly reactive molecules). It is these radicals that oxidize harmful pollutants like NOx in to
soluble nitrates and convert harmful organics into soaps and fatty acids. As long as there is
airflow across the material or movement of the garment, they estimate one square meter of
coated fabric will react with 0.5 grams of NOx daily. This translates to a kilogram of clothing
cleaning 20 grams of NOx out of the atmosphere. A pair of jeans at about 0.5 kilograms would
then take out 10 grams of NOx. Since TiO2 is a catalyst, it is not used up during the reactions.
Initially, the TiO2 solution was sprayed onto the fabric but is now added in a normal laundry
procedure as an additive with regular laundry product like fabric conditioner. Currently they are
working with cotton fabrics but hope that eventually this technology will apply to any fabric.
Further testing is needed to see if these photocatalysts adhere and are effective with other
materials.
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Right now the clothing is not available to the public but it is noted on the Catalytic Clothing
website that they would like to have these garments in the market in 2012.
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Grime-fighting garments aim to purify air
By Matthew Knight, CNN
January 4, 2012 -- Updated 1752 GMT (0152 HKT) |
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Catalytic Clothing project creates
clothes that can purify city air
Clothes are coated in titanium
dioxide which is used in selfcleaning glass
Nanoparticles added to fabric
conditioner which cling to
clothes during washing
Venture is joint effort of UK
fashion designer Helen Storey
and polymer chemist Tony Ryan
>
>>
London (CNN) -- It is an unlikely collaboration: She is a fashion
designer whose creations have been worn by Madonna, Michael
Jackson and Prince while he is a world-renowned polymer chemist.
But together, Helen Storey and Tony Ryan are fusing style and
substance to create clothes that purify the air we breathe.
Their "Catalytic Clothing" venture makes use of existing selfcleaning technology found in paints and glass which employ
photocatalysts to break down harmful airborne pollutants like nitrous
oxide emitted by cars and factories.
Applying it to clothing is novel though, and potentially far more
effective says Ryan, the pro-vice chancellor at the UK's University of
Sheffield.
Some rough calculations done while attending a "really boring
meeting" at the UK's Royal Society of Chemistry, revealed that his
suit had a surface area of about 80-square meters.
I thought if I put a
catalyst on the
(fibers of clothes)
I can do a lot of
environmental
clean-up
Professor Tony Ryan
"The fibers are long and thin, so they have a very high
surface area per unit mass," Ryan said.
"We already knew that we could get self-cleaning
windows and paints. But I thought if I put a catalyst
(titanium dioxide) on that surface I can do a lot of
environmental clean-up," he added.
When ultraviolet light hits titanium dioxide it causes
pollutants to break down into non-harmful chemicals.
Working with Ecover (manufacturers of ecological
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/04/tech/catalytic-clothing/index.html
Page 1 / 3
cleaning products) Storey and Ryan are hoping to deliver the
technology through a fabric conditioner with nano-particles of
titanium dioxide attaching themselves to clothes during a normal
washing cycle.
It's a vital technical but also democratic component to Ryan and
Storey's approach.
"Rather than going down the traditional fashion route, which make a
brand a pre-condition for something to happen, it's taking
advantage of human behavior as it exists -- we all wash our clothes,
we all walk in the street," Storey explains.
"We are empowering people's existing wardrobes with a technology
that will allow them to have a significant impact on the quality of air
we breathe," she added.
"We found out, rather wonderfully, that it works particularly well on
denim jeans," she added while pointing out that there are more pairs
of jeans than people on the planet.
Ryan estimates that a pair of jeans weighing 500 grams could
absorb around two grams of pollution.
Storey's journey away from commercial fashion to her current role -she runs her own foundation and is currently professor of fashion
and science at The London College of Fashion -- began in 1997
with an exhibition called Primitive Streak.
We are
empowering
people's existing
wardrobes with a
technology that
will allow them to
have a significant
impact on the
quality of air we
breathe
Working with her sister Kate (a developmental biologist)
she created 27 dresses which depicted the first 1,000
hours of human life.
Other projects blending science with art followed before
she met Ryan in 2005 collaborating on the Wonderland
project where they explored sustainable ideas for
packaging and environmentally-friendly fashion, which in
turn inspired their latest venture.
A four-minute film featuring British model Erin O'Connor
and music by Radiohead was launched last year to
promote the project and engage the public in the
process.
Professor Helen Storey
Ryan and Storey say more testing needs to be done to
assess how the particles released during washing affect
the water supply, but they're confident a product could be
on the market within the next two years.
Frank Kelly, professor of environmental health at King's College
London, and an adviser on the project, says air pollution is a major
challenge in the 21st century and such initiatives could help.
"We need everything possible to deal with the pollution problem in
big cities and this is one more approach that has been suggested
could be helpful," Kelly said.
"I think the technology has been proven in the laboratory but what
we need now is a demonstration that it works in the real world," he
added.
It will also help get the message out about the dangers of pollution,
he says.
"My ultimate stance is that we need to make less pollution as a
society and then we won't need to come up with fancy and
potentially expensive methodologies to solve the problem."
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/04/tech/catalytic-clothing/index.html
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Polymer scientist devises air-cleaning clothes
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By Barry Copping
Posted 5 January 2012
Share |
An eminent polymer chemist
has helped develop “catalytic
clothing” which can break
down harmful atmospheric
pollution such as nitrous
oxide arising from industrial
and automotive sources.
Professor Tony Ryan, a pro-vice
chancellor at the University of
Sheffield, drew on existing selfcleaning technology for paints
and glass, which employs
photocatalysts. These harness
energy from ambient ultraviolet
light to promote pollutant
breakdown reactions.
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l
Ryan collaborated with fashion designer Helen Storey, whose creations have been worn by
Madonna, Michael Jackson and Prince. He based the idea on rough calculations done while
attending a "really boring meeting" at the UK's Royal Society of Chemistry, working out that the
fibres of his suit had a total surface area of about 80 square meters.
Ryan said: “The fibres are long and thin, so they have a very high surface area per unit mass. We
already knew that we could get self-cleaning windows and paints. But I thought if I put a [titanium
dioxide] catalyst on [the fabric] surface I can do a lot of environmental clean-up.”
Working with Ecover, manufacturers of ecological cleaning products, Storey and Ryan hope to
deliver the technology through a fabric conditioner, with titanium dioxide nanoparticles attaching
themselves to clothes during a normal laundry cycle.
Storey said: "Rather than going down the traditional fashion route, which makes a brand a
precondition for something to happen, it's taking advantage of human behavior as it exists – we all
wash our clothes, we all walk in the street.
"We are empowering people's existing wardrobes with a technology that will allow them to have a
significant impact on the quality of air we breathe."
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Storey discovered that the process works particularly well on denim jeans. She pointed out that
there are more pairs of jeans than people on the planet.
Ryan reckons that a 500 gramme pair of jeans could absorb around two grammes of pollution.
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January 06, 2012 (UK)
A well-known polymer chemist from UK has devised a process for
“catalytic clothing” that would absorb pollution from the atmosphere
when worn.
The new process has been developed by Professor Tony Ryan, a proVice Chancellor at the University of Sheffield, based on existing selfcleaning technology for glass and paints that use photocatalysts to
break pollutants like nitrous oxide that arise from automotive and
industrial sources.
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Prof. Ryan roughly calculated that the total surface area of the fibres of
his suit is about 80 sq m. In his calculation, he took note of the fact
that the fibres have a very high surface area per unit mass as they are
long and thin.
Next, Prof. Ryan thought of putting a catalyst on the surface of the fabric to see if it can do
environmental clean-up. He used titanium dioxide as a catalyst.
He then collaborated with Helen Storey, a fashion designer whose creations have been
adorned by the likes of Michael Jackson, Madonna and Prince.
Currently, Ryan and Storey are working with Ecover, a company that manufactures cleaning
products, to come out with a fabric conditioner based on the newly developed technology. The
use of conditioner during a normal laundry wash would lead to titanium dioxide nanoparticles
sticking themselves to clothes.
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Storey said the new technology would take advantage of human behaviour, as it is the common
tendency of people to walk in the street and wash their clothes. It would empower people’s
existing garment collection to positively impact the quality of air we breathe.
Anorak
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She found that the process especially works well on denim jeans. She says the number of
pairs of jeans on earth today exceed the world population. Prof. Ryan estimates that a 500 gm
pair of jeans would absorb around 2 gm of pollution.
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Bumper sales over Christmas underpins Hallensteins in H1, February 15, 2012
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Monday, February 6, 2012, by Tiffany Yannetta
So here we are, thinking that neon
jeans are about as wild as it gets in
the denim world, and then all of a
sudden, two crazier pairs fall into our
laps. Naked and Famous have just
launched a pair of men's jeans that
are actually scratch and sniff:
They're $150, and they smell like
raspberries. Naked and Famous
informs that the scent only lasts for
about five washes, but do you own
any jeans that you've actually washed
more than that?
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Similarly, sort of, Catalytic Clothing
has invented a pair that can actually
purify the air. They're not for sale, but
they are a part of an art/science
experiment that's been shown in
Sheffield and London. She Finds
explains that the denim's coated with
titanium dioxide, and the fabric reacts
with sunlight to break down toxins in the air, thus reducing pollution. Essentially,
both pairs strive to make the air a little less stinky and bad for you.
· Will $150 scratch-and-sniff jeans for men catch on? [Today]
· Jeans That Make The Air Cleaner [She Finds]
· Out With Neutral, In With Neon: Electric Jeans at 5 Price Points [Racked]
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ECO FABRICS AND FASHION
ALICE DOYLE
Feb 13th, 2012
FABRICS OF THE FUTURE
The term eco-fashion can sometimes conjure a myriad of images, from
hippy beads to hemp. However, innovations are moving fabrics beyond
designs based on up-cycling or pre-loved vintage. Dare2 takes a look at
some of the fabrics of the future.
Modular clothing
Imagine a wardrobe of capsule pieces born from one outfit, classic pieces that can be worn time and time again.
Name:
Malaysian brand wear ULTRA have designed modular clothing as the very antithesis to fast fashion. Rather than
designing per season, their ULTRA 10 modular-interchangeable wardrobe is designed to dress a woman for a year
based upon the concept that you wear only ten pieces of clothing. Featuring a 3-in-1 coat that can deconstruct
into a skirt, shirt and a shirt-dress, among others, they produce on a made-to-order basis, producing less waste.
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ULTRA are also currently working with UNHCR to give refugees production opportunities. The collection is
testament to intelligent design and social awareness.
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The most you might ever wear is a milk moustache. But how about donning a whole garment made from what you
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London by storm with her...
high concentrations of the milk protein casein this is an odourless protein that can be transformed to drape and
fold like silk, but can be washed and dried like cotton. It is also chemical-free and biodegradable with naturally
GOODONE
antibacterial properties. Although not cheap to make, it only takes a quarter gallon of water to produce a pound of
Upcycled Elegance Independent Qmilch as opposed to over 1,250 gallons to produce a pound of cotton fabric. Only six litres of milk can produce
fashion label Goodone reveal to
an entire dress and its use is set to revolutionise the fabric industry.
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HATTIE RICKARDS FOR MADE
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Made UK fans all over the world
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Breathe in the Air
How about a dress that not only looks great but purifies the air as you take a stroll through the park? Catalytic
Clothing is a fabric coated in a substance that removes pollutants from the air through a chemical reaction on the
surface of the fabric. In cities where two of the biggest air pollutants are industry and motor vehicles the
‘photocatalyst’ becomes reactive when light shines on it. This neutralises pollutants such as nitrogen oxide,
known to increase the likelihood of asthma and other cardiovascular illnesses. It can also be added to detergents
and binds to clothes as they are washed. The project is still in very embryonic stages but designers hope it will be
ready within two years. With air pollution on London being responsible for 4,267 deaths annually and nationally,
around 50,000 premature deaths, Catalytic clothing could provide a noticeable reduction in the levels of city
pollution.
Sea Leather
Then there’s salmon leather – a dyeable textile made from the skin of farmed fish, which is normally landfilled after
the salmon is processed. The chemicals used to remove the fish scales are less toxic than those for tanning
mammal hides because it is easier to remove from skin than hair. So there’s almost no polluting residue left in the
water once leather manufacturing is completed. It is also stronger and more flexible than land leather, has a softer
suede like feel to it and most importantly does not whiff of fish. Salmon skin leather is also the environmentally
responsible option to snake, alligator, crocodile, and other exotic skins. So far it is being used by designer such
a s ES Salmon Leather and Skini London for clothing, bags, accessories to bikinis. The question is, will other
designers take the bait?
Gimmick or future trend?
Sustainable fashion has always battled with either being seen as a gimmick or an oxymoron within an industry
based upon seasonal obsolescence. But with innovative fabrics, fashion designers can reach those who may be
turned off by other sustainability messages. For the moment some innovations remain stuck in the niche. But in
order for fashion to be sustainable, we should soon see them spread to the mainstream.
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REVIEW: Death In Vegas, Leadmill
A field of jeans was on display in the Winter Gardens, Sheffield.
Published on Thursday 15 September 2011 07:23
WEAR your jeans for a little too long and the result alas may be a bit of a
pong.
But not these beauties - a display of denims in Sheffield’s Winter Garden
came as a breath of fresh air to everyone who came in for a closer look.
For these are the world’s first air-purifying jeans, created as part of a
project between the University of Sheffield and London College of Fashion.
Titled Field of Jeans, the exhibition was part of Catalytic Clothing, a
venture which aims to explore how clothing and textiles can be used to
freshen up the air we breathe.
Thirty pairs of jeans donated by the public were treated with a substance
that enables them to break down pollutants from the surrounding
atmosphere.
The jeans were mounted on cane and grouped together first in the Peace
Gardens and later throughout the Winter Garden.
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Catalytic Clothing is the creation of unlikely collaborators Professor Helen
Storey MBE, a practising artist and designer at London College of
Fashion, and Professor Tony Ryan, a scientist at the University of
Sheffield.
It is hoped the fusion of fashion and science will produce extraordinary
results.
Prof Ryan said: “Field of Jeans is the latest product of Catalytic Clothing
and a beautiful manifestation of a deeply technical process.
“There are more pairs of jeans than people on the earth. We are developing
something using both of them, that is both user-friendly and technically
http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/denim_is_star_of_eco_show_1_3773610
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excellent, to improve the urban environment.”
With the shared purpose of tackling some of the world’s most pressing
environmental problems and the desire to improve the quality of our lives
and those of future generations, the radical idea for Catalytic Clothing
emerged.
Prof Storey added: “Catalytic Clothing is the most challenging, globally
relevant project I have ever attempted.
“Behind almost all human advancement lies a science. Through my work, I
try to share and involve the public with these possibilities.”
The work links in with the University’s Project Sunshine, which aims to
unite scientists across both pure and applied sciences to harness the
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Catalytic Clothing: How A Denim Kilt Could Help Save
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Kevin Holmes February 22, 2012
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Last year we reported on some eco-fashion that went further than simply using sustainable materials and techniques
by making the garment itself a tool for reducing pollution. The project was called Catalytic Clothing and involved an
air-purifying dress covered in spray-on nano particles that suck pollutants from the air, allowing the wearer to score
maximum eco-points (while still wandering around in sweatshop Nikes).
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This was back in January 2011 and at the time the garment was more of an experimental sculpture than a wearable
dress, but a year is a long time in fashion and now the technology is ready for its public debut. The project is a
collaboration between Professor of Fashion and Science at the London School of Fashion Helen Storey and chemist
Tony Ryan, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the Faculty of Science at Sheffield University.
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In an interview last night about the future of nanotechnology on BBC Radio 4’s The Life Scientific, Ryan spoke about
this art-science collaboration, which also yielded dresses that dissolve in water in a project called Wonderland.
http://thecreatorsproject.com/blog/catalytic-clothing-how-a-denim-kilt-could-help-save-the-planet
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Eco-chic: the kilt that cuts pollution | Herald Scotland
30/05/2012 11:10
Wednesday 30 May 2012
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Eco-chic: the kilt that cuts
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Nanotechnology in fabric may improve our cities’ air quality Exclusive By Judith Duffy
SCOTLAND'S traditional dress seems the most unlikely solution to global warming.
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The smart kilts will be on show during Edinburgh Science Festival Photograph: Steve Cox
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But the kilt is being used to demonstrate how everyday clothing could help clean the air of polluted cities.
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Fashion designers and scientists have together come up with the idea of using a type of nanotechnology
which can be sprayed into any type of clothes and used to purify the surrounding air.
The catalyst particles involved – which are already used in some sunscreens – react with light to break
down harmful air pollution which can trigger health problems such as asthma.
Experts are now working out how to cheaply incorporate the technology into a fabric conditioner which
could turn it from the realm of sci-fi into a suitable product which could be on the market in around a year.
At the moment, the technology is unlikely to significantly change the way we live, as the treated clothing
would have to be worn by thousands of people before it would make a big difference to air quality.
But if the majority of residents in a city the size of Edinburgh, for example, donned the pollution-busting
garments, the technology could keep harmful emissions commonly produced by vehicles within safe levels.
Denim kilts which have been coated with the particles will be used to demonstrate the idea of "catalytic
clothing" at the forthcoming Edinburgh Science Festival.
Helen Storey, professor of fashion and science at the London College of Fashion, said different "recipes"
were currently being trialled to test the efficiency of the product.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/eco-chic-the-kilt-…-pollution.16854587?_=e52d8f28e3f3051231a74f13af9170373296a4cd
Page 1 of 3
Eco-chic: the kilt that cuts pollution | Herald Scotland
30/05/2012 11:10
She said: "The reason we have chosen to go down the laundry route is because [we're] trying to piggy back
[on] human behaviour as it already exists.
"It's not about saying you have to wear a particular sports brand or you have to buy a particular designer
brand in order to do it.
"We are taking something like the fact that everybody washes their clothes and everybody walks in cities as
being our best chance of making the technology widely used."
Storey said the researchers were currently in discussions with ecological cleaning product firm Ecover
about incorporating the nanotechnology into a cheap form which could be used on existing clothes, such as
through a fabric conditioner.
She added that the intention was to measure and scientifically verify the impact of the catalytic clothing
through assessing data from air quality stations – if enough people could be persuaded to wear it, of
course.
"At some level we hope it becomes a threshold product," Storey said. "It might be around for everybody in
all washing products."
The science behind the clothing is similar to the process of a catalytic converter in a car, which mops up
pollution and converts it into less toxic substances.
The garments are treated with titanium dioxide nanoparticles – which are already used as a sunscreen and
as a brightener in products like paint – which react in light and oxygen with air polluters such as nitric oxide.
Nitric oxide, which mainly comes from vehicle and industry emissions, is not considered harmful in itself, but
when released in the air it becomes nitrogen dioxide, which can cause respiratory problems.
But once on the treated clothing it is converted to harmless nitrates which can be washed away.
The scientist behind the project, Professor Tony Ryan of Sheffield University, said if everyone in a city such
as Sheffield – which has a similar population to Edinburgh – wore the clothing, it would make an impact.
He said: "They would be able to take out enough nitric oxide to keep us below the safe limit throughout the
whole of the year.
"One or two people doing it won't have any effect and you won't benefit from [just] you doing it.
"But you will benefit from me and everybody else doing it, so it is a whole community thing."
Howie Nicholsby, of Edinburgh-based 21st Century Kilts, has provided three kilts for the demonstration
project at Edinburgh Science Festival on April 4.
Denim is being used as it has so far been found to be the material which works best for catalytic clothing.
"If I could offer this to my customers tomorrow, I would," he said. "I think it is an incredible concept for future
generations."
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Scotland's pollution shame Transport • Tue 27 Dec 2011
MPs call for action to cut air pollution in cities Transport • Tue 15 Nov 2011
£2.7m fine is price of greenhouse gas mistake by Exxon Environment • Sun 19 Feb 2012
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Trams would result in pollution problem for Edinburgh streets Letters • Mon 27 Jun 2011
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http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/eco-chic-the-kilt-…-pollution.16854587?_=e52d8f28e3f3051231a74f13af9170373296a4cd
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The special kilts will be demonstrated during the Edinburgh Science Festival. Pic: Steve Cox/Newsquest Media
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Update by news editor 28-02-2012
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The new fashion item that can cut air pollution
Fashion designers and scientists have created a special kilt that can help to
clean the air of polluted cities.
The kilt works by using nanotechnology - the science of working with very
small things.
It has been treated with a special spray. Tiny particles in the spray react
with light to break down harmful chemicals in the atmosphere that can
cause health problems like asthma.
The eco-kilt will be demonstrated as part of the Edinburgh Science Festival
in April.
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One or two people wearing the kilt, or other treated clothing, would not
make any difference to air quality. It would take thousands of us to do it to
make a big improvement.
>Edinburgh Science Festival
So experts are working on how to use the nanotechnology in laundry
liquid. If most people in a city like Edinburgh were to wash their clothes
with it, traffic fumes could be kept at harmless levels.
>Nanotechnology song
The scientists hope that a pollution-busting laundry liquid will be in our
shops sometime next year.
>Catalytic Clothing
>Nanotechnology game
>BBC bitesize - nanotechnology
More Headlines From The Daily What? Murray told: Don’t keep mum!
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Summer side effects
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This story is available bilingually G a e l i c English
Addicted to technology
Eco-kilts to the rescue!
Nanotechnology in fabric may improve our cities' air quality
Kilts sprayed with a special nanotechnology that can purify air will feature in
Edinburgh's Science Festival this April.
Here we have a look at the science behind the skirts and try to answer your questions,
with the help of the experts from Sheffield University who came up with the concept,
and the company that uses it - Catalytic Clothing.
What is nanotechnology?
Nanotechnology is the science of working with very small things, or molecules. When
working on a molecular level, the unit of measurement used is a nanometre.
How small is a nanometre?
If you take an average four-year-old child who is one-metre tall and shrink them until
they are 1,000 times smaller, they would then be the size of an ant - about a millimetre
high. Shrink them by a factor of 1,000 again and they would become the size of a red
blood cell, or a micrometre. Repeat the same amount of shrinking one last time and the
child could be measured in nanometres.
What is the science behind the eco-kilt, and other similar clothing?
Catalytic Clothing's special spray is made up of tiny pieces called photocatalyst
particles. These are already used in sun-screen lotion. In the clothing, these particles
can change the chemical make-up of the air around them by reacting with light to
break down nitrogen dioxide - a harmful pollutant created by traffic fumes.
How are the pollutants broken down?
When light shines on the photocatalyst, it reacts with air to create atoms called radicals.
These radicals can break down nitrogen dioxide and convert it to harmless nitrates
which can be washed away.
Would someone wearing an eco-kilt be at a greater risk of exposure to
pollutants?
No. The nanotechnology won't actively attract any pollutants. Instead, it will break down
anything that comes very close to its surface.
What good could the eco-kilts do?
Exposure to air pollution puts our health at risk, as well as harming ecosystems and
vegetation. Air pollution is estimated to reduce the life expectancy of every person in
the UK by an average of seven to eight months. It is also linked to other common
conditions like asthma. If enough people wore the eco-kilts air pollution could be
dramatically reduced and our quality of life improved.
How much air space can the kilts purify?
The kilts have to be moving - if they are moving quickly enough then one square metre
of coated fabric can take out 0.5 grams of nitrogen dioxide per day.
How many people would need to wear an eco-kilt to make a difference?
It is estimated that if 30 people wearing an eco-kilt walked past each metre of
pavement in a large city like Glasgow, air pollution would be significantly reduced to a
harmless level.
Try our daily interactives - What is nanotechnology? and How big is a
nanometre?
Lesson ideas and suggestions
Read and discuss lesson ideas on our Facebook page
Join our mailing list (Glow login required)
adapted from article by Judith
Duffy
read original story here
This story is available bilingually Gaelic
English
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http://www.dailywhat.org.uk/2012/02/eco-kilts-to-the-rescue.aspx
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Home > Blog > Clothes That Clean The Air >
Clothes that clean the air
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Posted by ewycherley on 07 March 2012 | View all posts | Previous | Next
The opposite of wasted is
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The great big book swap shop
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georgina_dawkins about 21
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Take a shower to power your
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What happened to this site? Why
(Image: altkilt)
hasn't it launched yet?
kalvin_lyle 9 days ago
How great would it be to reduce bad gases in the air, simply by wearing
certain clothes? Too futuristic, you say? Well, perhaps not.
Take a shower to power your
home
Did someone forget that in order
A recent collaboration between Helen Storey, a fashion designer, and Tony Ryan, a nanotechnologist (one of those clever folk who manipulate atoms
and moelcules to see what new materials they can develop) has seen the
emergence of Catalytic Clothing, a series of textiles capable of sponging
greenhouse gases out of the surrounding air.
to "power" these generators, the
utility company has to pump
water at mains pressure, so...
nickb 11 days ago
Do The Bike Thing: Let's get
http://www.dothegreenthing.com/blog/clothes_that_clean_the_air
Page 1 / 3
The clothes will be available to see and feel (if you ask nicely) at the
Edinburgh International Science Festival this spring. Ryan and Helen will
be wearing their creations to show that science and fashion can mix.
Ryan will don a traditional Scottish kilt made from special catalyzed denim
(complete with sporran and socks) whilst Helen will wear an air purifying
Vivienne Westwood outfit.
The way it works is this:
The coating of catalyst particles on the clothes react with light and air to
produce bleach which neutralises the nitric oxide (a gas that contributes to
climate change) in the air. Sounds pretty simple when you put it like that,
right?
You might be wondering how much good it will do. Well, according to Ryan,
if everyone in Sheffield wore the catalytically enabled clothes, enough nitric
oxide could be removed from the air to keep it at a safe limit for the city.
The duo are hoping to start a 'pop-up laundry' where people could come
and bring their clothes to get catalysed. Cleaning your clothes and the air at
the same time? Genius.
Love fashion? These gorgeous outfits are made from milk. Yep, seriously.
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In: fashion, clothes, design, science, Catalytic Clothing, Helen Storey, Tony Ryan, greenhouse
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3 comments
ADD A COMMENT
Hi Emily As far as I am aware, no bleach is used. The
photocatalyst is called Tio2. The way it works is that the
photocatalyst breaks down the pollutants in the air when
surrounded by oxygen and light. The Tio2 is applied when
you put your clothes in the washing machine. The special
ingredient is added to your laundry soap or fabric
softener. I think this is a one time process, so yes, the
clothes keep on working. Some Tio2 might be released
into the water stream but at such a small concentration
that it should not be a problem. Also, because it needs
light to activate it, there should be very minimal activity
from it. Any Tio2 in the water will be removed by the usual
water cleaning procedures. They have lots more
information about it on their website: http://?www.catalyticclothing.org/?faq.html I hope that helps!
jocorrall 2 months ago.
REPORT
Great idea! Couple of questions 1) What happens after
the clothes are washed, do they keep working? 2) Do they
Page 2 / 3
release bleach into the water?
emily_dodd 2 months ago.
REPORT
What happens after the clothes are washes? How long do
they keep working and do they release bleach into the
water?
emily_dodd 2 months ago.
REPORT
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Can our clothing cleanse the air?
14th March, 2012 by Martin Wright | Add a comment
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because the mere sight of you stops people swearing. The air is literally being cleansed of pollutants, thanks to
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you. Or rather, your clothes.
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Because your jeans, your top – any fabric you’re wearing – are coated in a certain nanoparticulate: titanium
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Editors' blogs
Nanotechnology designed to cleanse the air of pollutants could be incorporated into our
clothing, but – asks Martin Wright – are we ready to become walking cleaning agents?
Imagine you’re walking down a busy city street. And as you walk, the air around you becomes cleaner. Not
dioxide (TiO2 ) to be precise. This acts as a photocatalyst, using energy from sunlight to break down various
pollutants, notably nitrogen oxides from car exhausts – a key constituent of today’s rising quantities of urban
APPLY
smog. The process converts NOx to nitric acid, which in turn reacts with calcium carbonate, locking the gases up
in calcium nitrate, while also releasing (very small) quantities of CO2 and water.
It’s a well-established, proven process, increasingly used on a number of buildings [see 'Smart solutions for a
material world'] and there are experiments underway to incorporate it in road surfaces too.
If it were applied to clothes, though, it would massively increase its pollution-cleaning impact. Studies have shown
that the cleaning properties of TiO2 on buildings only extend to a range of around 25cm or so or so from the wall.
People, on the other hand, could act as mobile cleansing agents, covering an area far larger than anything
possible with a (static) building as they go about their business around town.
The aim is to allow us to ‘breathe more beautifully’
The idea of incorporating photocatalysts in clothes sprang from discussions between Professor Tony Ryan of the
University of Sheffield, a specialist in polymer nanotechnology, and designer Helen Storey, currently Professor of
Fashion and Science at the London School of Fashion. She designed the first ever ‘purifying dress’, displayed as
an art installation entitled ‘Herself’, with the aim of allowing us “to breathe more beautifully”. Subsequently, she
came up with a ‘Field of Jeans’ – a multitude of denims strung on lines.
Designing a pollution-eating dress is one thing; taking it to scale is another. You can’t realistically (or sustainably)
expect people to invest in a whole new photocatalytic wardrobe! So Storey and Ryan approached Ecover, with a
view to seeing if the chemical would work as a laundry additive. It had immediate resonance with the company’s
high ecological standards, explains Tom Domen, international products manager. Research is now under way to
see just how the TiO2 will perform in practice; in particular, how long it will last after being applied to clothes. At
first, researchers considered simply adding it to detergent, but decided it wasn’t necessary to apply it in each
washing cycle. So the focus now is on an additive, to be used in the regular wash every now and then.
http://www.forumforthefuture.org/greenfutures/articles/can-our-clothing-cleanse-air
Page 1 / 4
Inevitably, there will be unease among some at the thought of adding anything ‘nano’ to their wash, although it
wouldn’t be the first time that nanoscale TiO2 has been worn close to the skin. As Dolmen points out, it’s already
present in a wide range of applications, notably suncream, toothpaste and bright white paint. (The line markings
on Wimbledon tennis courts, for example, contain TiO2 .) But to allay fears, Ecover is planning on having open
discussions with NGOs such as Greenpeace, “to help assure people”, in Dolmen’s words, “that we’re not just
replacing one pollutant with another”.
It’s early days yet, but Domen is confident that neither technology nor price will be a major obstacle. “The biggest
challenge”, he says, “is how we persuade people that they want to have this. After all, we’re asking them to do
something which, while completely harmless to them, won’t actually be bringing them any direct personal
benefits. Rather, they will be a bringing a benefit to the community.”
Time will tell whether people will be prepared to pay for this – and if so, how much. It raises the tantalising
question as to whether there’s a business model in altruism. But it would be nice to think that some people at
least will be prepared to pay to help others “breathe more beautifully”. – Martin Wright
Ecover is a Forum for the Future Partner
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H O M E
ABOUT NAKED CIVICS
A B O U T N A T E
WHAT IS CIVIC DESIGN?
← PRICE OF ENERGY GOT YOU ALL
Civic Design is a practice that
HOT & BOTHERED? DON’T SWEAT
focuses on the common good
outcomes of our communities by
SPEAKING
DIFFERENT INPUTS PRODUCE
DIFFERENT OUTCOMES →
IT … CONVERT IT
pulling upon all of the
institutional tools in our
communities, beyond our
MARCH 16, 2012 · 5:57 PM
↓ Jump to Comments
traditional sole focus on
government alone. Regulating
our communities into better
health and prosperity, writ large,
is more than passing laws and
warring over angry left vs. right
politics. We simply cannot afford
that type of narrow thinking
anymore, and that is more than a
mere financial commentary. We
simply cannot afford to be that
uncreative in these historically
dynamic times.
WHAT’S BETTER THAN CLEAN
CLOTHES? CLOTHES THAT
CLEAN OF COURSE
It seems like the second I wrap up a blog post about some cutting-edge
design I think the public should be aware of, I find another one I want to
Twitter
Updates
share. This one is especially cool (just like the rest, I suppose!): Clothes that
n
reduce gasses in the air that contribute to climate change.
This plays on the Broken
And these clothes don’t look like the recycled potato sack or water bottle
Window Theory -> trees are
the secret weapon against
crime in Baltimore:
Civic Design weaves by aligning
our institutional tools rather
bags we bring our groceries home in … they are stylish! Here’s the story: Girl
bit.ly/LPWJfz 15 hours ago
than position them as
adversaries. It is practiced with
this adage always in mind:
designed and eco-friendly clothing line. Guy manipulates molecules and
NOT LEFT. NOT RIGHT.
FORWARD.
(fashion designer) and Guy (nanotechnologist) team up to make a well-
designs nice clothes to construct with the new fabrics. Catalytic Clothing is FAILING WORLD.
born.
Said Guy and Girl are Professors Tony Ryan and Helen Storey, and they will
be present at the Edinburgh International Science Festival starting the end But can you be both a night
owl and a morning person?
bit.ly/JrUL1f cc: @TheWeek
17 hours ago
finds a way to create a fabric that neutralizes nitric oxide in the air. Girl
NO ONE SUCCEEDS IN A
Search
n
n
This is what I mean when I
say we need to turn sticks
into carrots: a teddy bear
helps kids w/ diabetes
practice care. bit.ly/LoA7Dc
1 day ago
of this month, where they plan on donning their original knits.
They’ve also thrown around the idea of creating pop-up laundry shops,
whereby people like you and me bring our (clean) clothes to get them
catalysed, or coated with particles that purify the air. Cool stuff, huh? So not
only are Catalytic Clothing’s duds jaw-droppingly beautiful (check out this
dress) but they are proactive in helping the environment (which is even a step beyond recycled materials or products like Levi’s Water<Less jeans).
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Here are a couple articles about Catalytic Clothing that informed me of this
awesome product: http://www.dezeen.com/2011/06/15/catalytic-clothingby-helen-storey-and-tony-ryan/ and http://www.dothegreenthing.com/blog/clothes_that_clean_the_air.
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NOx agents are
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respiratory disease
and cancer causing agents in smog and react to form acid rain. In the UK alone, organic
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volatiles kill 29,000 people a year, and asthma is a growing problem especially among young
people living in big cities with high levels of NOx and other pollutants in the air. Although
several initiatives have been undertaken to reduce NOx and organic volatile pollutant
CATEGORIES
November 2011
Allergies
concentrations in air, emissions standards remain largely unmet.
This may be about to change, and at the hand of the everyday citizen. Former fashion
designer Helen Storey and polymer chemist Prof. Tony Ryan have suggested a lovely
solution: build an air-purifying function into the clothes we wear all day every day.
December 2011
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Antibiotic Resistance
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According to Storey, every single surface that is available to us - whether the interior of our
minds or the outside of our clothes and our bodies -needs to be getting 'smarter'. Storey and
Prof. Ryan are making trendy jeans 'smart' by treating them with tiny particles called nano-
Career
Chocolate
titania. Nano-titania, or nanosized particles of titanium dioxide, work as powerful catalyst
agents that speed up the conversion of harmful NOx air pollutants to harmless byproducts
that can be washed away with the rain. All right there on the surface of the everyday
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6 Amazing Inventions Made Possible by Nanotechnology
Meet the Contributor Meet them all
Rebecca Paul
from Inhabitat
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Nanotechology has evolved by leaps and bounds over the past few years, and we've seen scores of
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big developments made possible by designs smaller than the eye can see. To get you up to speed
on the latest and greatest in nano-scale technology, we've put together a mind-bending list of six of
our favorite inventions - from water purifying tea bags to self-heating roads and clothing that cleans
the air you breathe!
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Nanotech Water Purifying Tea Bag
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Millions of people around the world have limited access to drinking water - and diseases caused by
contaminated water sources kill 1.8 million people each year. As both private and public entities
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continue to look for viable solutions to the problem, one promising development comes to us from
South Africa, where researchers have used nanotechnology to create a water-purifying tea bag that
costs just half a cent. In order to activate the tea bag, the user places it into the neck of a water
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bottle and then drinks water that passes through it. The design is portable and instantly effective!
However, none of this would be possible without the help of nanotechnology - researchers have
combined ultra-thin, nano-scale fibers with grains of activated carbon to filter harmful
contaminants and kill bacteria.
http://mylifescoop.com/featured-stories/2012/03/6-amazing-inventions-made-possible-by-nanotechnology.html?page=1
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View more recent articles »
Artificial Muscles to Propel Nanobots Through the Body
Nanotechnology has already had a significant impact on the world of medical science - however the
next generation of nano-scale medical technology will blow your mind. For example, researchers from
the University of British Columbia are currently working on a line of nanobots that will aim to diagnose
and heal the body from the inside. In order to accomplish this amazing feat they have developed
see it all on Twitter »
artificial muscles that are extremely flexible and strong enough to rotate objects a thousand times their own weight. By spinning carbon nanotubes into helical yarns, researchers were able to control
the yarn with an electrochemical charge that causes them to twist and untwist. The muscle can be incorporated into bots with artificial flagella, or tiny tails that would rotate to propel them.
Self-Heating Roads Save Cars From Icy Conditions
When it comes unpredictable winter weather, maintaining safe driving conditions is a major concern.
Luckily, over the past few years researchers at the University of Houston have made some great
strides in turning the threat of icy roads into a worry of the past. Their self-heating roads are
embedded with sheets of carbon nanofiber that are warmed by an electrical element. It only takes two
hours and 6 watts of power to take a block of concrete from -10 to 0 C. We probably won't see
streets across the states upgraded with the technology come December, but areas known for having
dangerously icy conditions could be prime candidates for the first installations.
Page 2 / 4
Nanotechnology Makes Poop Power 20 Times More Efficient
As researchers continue to explore new ways to harness renewable energy from the wind, sun and
waves, many people overlook another renewable resource -- the one we flush down our toilets. That's
right, with a little help from fuel cells, engineers at Oregon State University are taking poop and
turning it into clean, green electricity. These mad scientists discovered that by applying a
nanoparticle coating to the anodes inside the fuel cells, they were able to increase the cell's energy
production by a staggering 20 times. The energy produced could potentially power future waste
management systems and alleviate their energy expense.
Catalytic Clothing Cleans the Air You Breathe
Fashion finds a new purpose with Catalytic Clothing's amazing pollution neutralizing textiles. Their
innovative fabrics are designed to act as catalytic surfaces capable of scrubbing the air of nitrogen
oxides and the volatile organic compounds that are emitted by factories and gas-guzzling modes of
transportation. To create these air-purifying textiles, raw titanium dioxide is washed into clothing as
an additive in a detergent. Once the fabric has dried, the garment is activated and the resulting
titanium dioxide nanorods begin to attract and neutralize polluting particles that touch them. Catalytic
Clothing's venture is simple, efficient, and it has the potential to turn all of us into walking air-filters.
Page 3 / 4
Tube Shape Photovoltaic Cells Could Result in Solar Powered Clothing
Today's solar-powered clothing sadly lacks fashion sense - garments typically consist of a solar
panel strapped to a backpack or shirt. But this could soon change, as a team of researchers at the
Georgia Institute of Technology and Xiamen University have developed a flexible tube-like photovoltaic
cell that can be woven discretely in to fabric. The technology uses semi-conducting nanorods made
from carbon fibers and titania that look similar to the bristles on a hairbrush. The industrial process to
create the fabric is rather laborious and time-consuming, but these nanorods can be applied to
photocatalysts to generate energy from the sun. The technology is still in its early stages, but we
hope to see more breakthroughs on the horizon.
What's your favorite type of nanotechnology? See more from Inhabitat:
How To Green Your Investment Portfolio
Top 10 Green Gadget Gifts for 2011
10 Tech Tips for a Green + Healthy Workplace
5 Apps To Stop a Temper Tantrum in its Tracks
5 Phone Apps To Boost Your Brain Power
Tech to Help you Work Smarter and Greener
Tech to Help You Green Your Shopping Spree
Green Tech to Improve Your Camping Trip
Green Tech to Help You Relax
=========================================================================
Rebecca Paul is the Manager of Business Operations and an NY Editor for Inhabitat.com.
She is a writer, designer and graduate student currently pursuing her masters degree in
strategic design innovation and business management at the Pratt Institute in New York
City. Inhabitat is an online magazine devoted to the future of design, tracking the innovations
in technology, practices and materials that are pushing architecture and design towards a
smarter and more sustainable future. Written by a young tech-savvy team designers and
design journalists, Inhabitat delivers fresh content daily, showcasing emerging work from the
cutting-edge of the global design community.
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Catalytic Clothing–Purifying Air Goes Trendy
By Paige Brown | March 21, 2012 | Share Email 1
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
Catalytic Clothing is a ‘trendy’ solution to air
quality and a daring environmental-fashion
initiative started by former fashion designer
Helen Storey and University of Sheffield
Professor Anthony Ryan. This experiment
between fashion and science is an endeavor to
purify the air we breathe through jeans treated
with nanosized particles of titanium dioxide – the
light-triggered catalyst found in sunscreen. Helen
Storey, fashion genius of the Helen Storey Foundation, and Prof. Tony Ryan,
polymer chemist, are partnering with Ecover to produce a simple nanoparticle
formulated ‘green’ laundry product with potential to turn the public into an air-
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purifying altruistic community.
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Let’s face it… our air is a mess. Generally, we are not reaching air emission targets for
Once-Rare Butterfly Species Now Thrives,
Thanks to Climate Change
key pollutants that affect our environment as well as our health, including nitrogen
The Primate Diaries
oxides (NOx) and organic volatiles. According to the EPA, nitrogen oxides form
quickly from emissions from cars, trucks and buses, power plants, and off-road
The Allure of Gay Cavemen
equipment. NOx agents are respiratory disease and cancer causing agents in smog
and react to form acid rain. In the UK alone, organic volatiles kill 29,000 people a
year, and asthma is a growing problem especially among young people living in big
cities with high levels of NOx and other pollutants in the air. Although several
initiatives have been undertaken to reduce NOx and organic volatile pollutant
concentrations in air, emissions standards remain largely unmet.
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Researchers Discover Hacker-Ready Computer
Chips
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How Do Octopuses Navigate?
Image of the Week
This may be about to change, and at the hand of the everyday citizen. Former fashion
designer Helen Storey and polymer chemist Prof. Tony Ryan have suggested a lovely
solution: build an air-purifying function into the clothes we wear all day every day.
According to Storey, every single surface that is available to us – whether the interior
of our minds or the outside of our clothes and our bodies –needs to be getting
‘smarter’. Storey and Prof. Ryan are making trendy jeans ‘smart’ by treating them
with tiny particles called nano-titania. Nano-titania, or nanosized particles of titanium
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/03/21/catalytic-clothing-purifying-air-goes-trendy/
Page 1 / 7
dioxide, work as powerful catalyst agents that speed up the conversion of harmful
NOx air pollutants to harmless byproducts that can be washed away with the rain. All
right there on the surface of the everyday person’s jeans.
Storey and Prof. Ryan seek to engage the public on environmental issues through art
and fashion. “Fashion is an amazing communicator,” Storey said. “For all its faults, one
of the things it can do is spread an idea around very powerfully and coherently. It can
galvanize a lot of support for it. Imagine if you could galvanize that kind of energy
towards something that would actually safe life.”
“Tony and I walk around in our air-purifying jeans – not purifying very much based
on its need to be at scale – but I wear mine in the hope that I can infinitesimally
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improve our air quality. Tony says he wears his so that he can fart all day and no
one will know!” – Helen Storey
Catalytic Clothing – The solution
“It’s all about surface area,” Prof. Tony Ryan says about the nanoscale catalysts that
he and Storey are using to convert the pair of jeans in the back of your closet into an
air-purifying machine. This artist-and-scientist team is trying to harness the “football
pitch” of surface area of the clothes we wear on a daily basis to serve a creative and
vital function (other than hiding our nakedness or communicating our style): purifying
the air around us from harmful nitrogen oxides and other organic pollutants.
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“We asked ourselves, could we apply something to the surface of clothing, knowing
that the surface area is so much greater than many other surfaces, to solve a world
problem?” – Helen Storey
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Catalytic Clothing – The History
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Fifteen years ago, Storey ended a commercial fashion career “dressing people like
Michael Jackson, Prince and Madonna – celebrities that made a living off of what they
looked like or sounded like,” said Storey, in order to look for something new. She
happened upon a leaflet from The Welcome Trust about an initiative called ‘SciArt’.
“What they were trying to do was get scientists and artists together, the idea being
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Bang! Magazine: Student Science Magazine of
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that the artists could elucidate or bring to life an area of complex science in a way that
the public could engage with,” Storey said. ‘SciArt’ was a springboard for Storey to
enter a new world, and perhaps even a new era, of fashion.
“Fashion changes every 3 seconds, whereas science can take 10-15 years to get
something right and to market. Catalytic clothing is … asking fashion to slow down
in order to do something that is of value and beyond the moment, and asking
science to speed up because the world needs answers much more quickly than it is
used to delivering them.” – Helen Storey
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Storey first partnered with Prof. Ryan on a project bridging science, the environment,
and fashion after hearing him speak on a BBC Radio Series called Material World. “He
sounded a very nice combination between a stand-up comic and a science geek… so I
rang him up,” Storey said. The artist and the material scientist hit it off right away;
“We started talking about the full extent to which materials could have behaviors, and
how far we could push that,” Storey said.
An initial union between fashion and science, a project called Wonderland that
featured rather magically disappearing dresses allowed Storey and Ryan to begin
engaging the public with notions of materials, how much we consume and where our
materials go and don’t go. “We have this awkward conversation with them but
through awe and beauty as opposed to scaring them, or making them feel guilty,” http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2012/03/21/catalytic-clothing-purifying-air-goes-trendy/
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Storey said. The team started to realize the power of art and fashion in bringing to the
public a message around science, and the possibilities of science, in ways that were
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much more accessible than through a journal or in the written form.
Storey and Prof. Ryan were sitting in a Wonderland project workshop with 14- and
1 5- year old students, talking to students about what it was like to be an artist
working with a scientist and vice versa, when the idea seed for Catalytic Clothing was
planted by a young female student in the audience. “She said, ‘I think what
scientists should be doing is taking advantage of what happens in any
case, far more often,” Storey said. “We were both quite struck by this comment –
this notion of taking advantage of something that already exists in a new way,” Storey
said.
When Prof. Ryan did an ‘under the table’ calculation of what the surface area of a
person’s clothing is, he found that we have about a football pitch available to us at the
nanoscale. “That is a vast catalytic surface that in essence is doing nothing. It is
keeping us warm, and of course our clothes say a bit to the people in front of us about
who we are, or who we want to be seen as – but it terms of being an active surface, it
is doing nothing,” Storey said.
And so Catalytic Clothing was born.
“Given my fashion background, it made sense that we continue to think about what
the surface of us could do – the stuff that is there in any case!” – Helen Storey
Storey and Prof Ryan contacted Cristal Global, the worlds’ 2nd largest provider of
nano-titania catalysts, to suggest collaboration on an initiative with textiles instead of
traditional hard surfaces. “At first, I think they thought we were stupid,” Storey said.
“But they did their tests [with our textiles] – and then they redid them, and they
redid them, and they redid them, because they almost went off the scale in terms of
efficacy.” Cristal Global had never had to measure catalyst efficacy of this potency
before.
“The other thing that we found out is that denim jeans are the most
efficacious surface of all,” Storey said, “and they are also the most
democratic piece of clothing in the world.” Today, there are more denim jeans
on the planet than there are people. “Even if we only ever got this to work on jeans … we would be doing a good thing,” Storey said.
Catalytic Clothing – The Science
Catalytic clothing is coated with
nano-titania – or nanosized
titanium dioxide – catalyst. The
small particles can be washed
into any piece of your clothing,
for example your jeans, when
you wash them in the washing
machine. Storey and Prof. Ryan
'Field of Jeans' Stereographic, Chelsea College of Art by DED
envision that the catalyst will be
delivered through a fabric
softener type of product.
Catalytic Clothing has partnered
with Ecover, a consumerproduct company well known for
being brave and pioneering in
the area of the environment, to
Page 3 / 7
formulate such a product for
public use.
“…We are not asking anybody to buy something new for the sake of it – but instead
adding some radical technology to what you already own, to your existing
wardrobe, simply by asking you to wash it with a specific product.” – Helen Storey
The catalyst particles are tiny balls that measure less than 10 nanometers in diameter
(1 nanometer = 1 billionth of a meter). “Because the particles are small, they ‘stick’.
Once they are stuck to the surface of the fabric, they are stuck to the surface of the
fabric, and they only fall off the fabric when the fabric degrades,” Prof. Ryan said.
When the cotton fibers of your jeans break, and your jeans go white, the particles
eventually fall off, but the traditional washing process, or running around outside,
create no problem for the catalyst particles.
Nanoparticles have an extremely high surface area to volume ratio compared to
particles large enough for the human eye to see. “The majority of the [catalyst]
material is surface,” explains Prof. Ryan. More surface area is key when we are
talking about catalysts. Nano-titania catalysts use oxygen and light, along with their
reactive surfaces, to turn nitrogen oxides into the less harmful water-soluble product
nitric acid. The catalysts can also react with organic volatiles to create a familiar water
soluble product: soap.
There have been various trials in London on urban surfaces like pavements and school
walls using nanoparticles of titanium dioxide to remove NOx from the air. However,
what these trials found was that while the nanocatalysts can keep these surfaces
clean, and whilst they can purify small amounts of air, “the volume of fumes coming at
them from cars is so relentless that they don’t actually improve the air quality in
human terms very much at all,” Storey said.
Prof. Ryan explains how Catalytic Clothing works with an example from ‘smart’ architecture. “Self-cleaning windows are a classic example of nano-titania
catalysts,” he said. Nano-titania materials in these windows, along with oxygen, react
with dirt to create a soap-like product. “Oxidized dirt is soap, and when it reacts, the
windows wash themselves,” Prof Ryan said. The technology has also been widely
used in architecture. There is a church in Rome, and another in Madrid, that are ‘selfcleaning’ churches. “They stay very very white because of the action of the
photocatalyst, which effectively re-bleaches the surface of the church over and over,” Prof Ryan explained.
Catalytic clothing harnesses this same chemistry to remove nitric oxide
(NOx) from the air, but with a twist.
While the surface area of most architectural surfaces is not particularly high, clothing
has more than we know what to do with. As it turns out, a pair of jeans weighing one
pound has a surface area of greater than 195 square feet – this covers the floor space
of a modest living room. “The higher the surface area, the more NOx removal you
get,” Prof Ryan said. Clothes remove far more NOx per unit area of fabric than
architectural surfaces, because the effective surface area of clothing is so high.
“The leap of imagination wasn’t so much a new technology, but going back to the 14year old girl, taking advantage of something that exists already, and just thinking of a
completely different field of use. And that is where Catalytic Clothing came from,” Storey said. “There is no new science here, we are just taking advantage of an already
established technology,” Prof. Ryan said. Nanoparticles of titanium dioxide are not
only found in self-cleaning windows – you can find these particles in toothpaste and
sunscreens. Nano-titania is used in sunscreens as a UV-light absorber, absorbing
Page 4 / 7
harmful UV rays so that our skin doesn’t have to.
So, how many people would have to wear Catalytic jeans to reach emission targets of
NOX? “We have done the maths on how many people it would take to get the city of
Sheffield – where Prof. Tony is based – under the emissions limit for NOx,” Storey
said. For the city, which produces 9000 tons of NOX every year, the answer is one
third of a million people… only two thirds of the city’s total population.
Catalytic Clothing – a Cultural Experiment
“Science often happens behind closed doors. They come out at the end and they say
‘Finished!’ but they often forget to ask if we even want it. I’m trying to narrow that
gap, and to join all the dots in between the outside world (society) and the inside
world of academia (Universities largely) – whether that is considered an art or a
science.” – Helen Storey
Catalytic Clothing has tried to keep a global conversation going over their future
product development, to feed public voice and public hopes and fears for the
technology back to the science team creating the textile catalysts product. Storey was
able to send a team of graduate students at the London College of Fashion – who were
studying a course known as ‘Fashion and Environment’ – out into the public domain to
collect public feedback on Catalytic Clothing technology as well as consider more
widely how science could impact their own artistic development. See The Living Map
of public feedback.
“The most popular piece of feedback you get from speaking to anybody in the street
when they have just begun to understand the concept is the perception that they will
become a dirt magnet,” Storey said. “This is not how the technology works at all,” Storey said. The catalyst is only triggered and active when it meets UV light and
oxygen. “The reaction happens around you, not on you,” Storey said. “The catalyst on
your clothes triggers the reaction away from you.
In effect, you are walking in your own purer bubble of air,” Storey said. “But the
lovely and rather poetic aspect of this technology is that you personally don’t benefit.
You benefit the person behind you who walks in your airstream, as you benefit from
the person ahead of you, as you walk in theirs. Perhaps this is the world’s first
altruistic technology.”
Public feedback was a very good clue to the team about how they needed to begin to
speak of their ‘catalytic jeans’ in order to get enough people to wear them to
eventually bear an impact on air quality. “A lot of these perceptions of the technology
scientists would never have thought it – and neither would I have actually,” Storey
said. “To be constantly kept on your toes by the reality of the street means
that when this technology does become available it will already have a
marketplace hungry for it,” she said,
“It only really works if everybody does it. It really is an altruistic thing to do. The
problem is, how do you market altruism? Most sales are actually done on individual
benefit – so for marketing departments in big companies, this is a really big issue.” –
Prof. Ryan
This is where the union of art, science, and fashion has its role to play. Art can perhaps
carry the science and environmentalism to new heights. “We are trying to get the
cultural message out first, before there is a product in the market,” Prof Ryan said. I
personally think this is a wonderful and much needed union. Science is often ‘sold’ for science’s sake, leaving non-scientists cold on what could be innovative and
successful ideas. What is most interesting about Catalytic Clothing is that in and of
Page 5 / 7
itself, the science is not new, but the project as a whole is artfully inspiring, and
perhaps capable of radically changing our behaviors and attitudes toward our
environment.
View this series of beautiful films about Catalytic Clothing – my favorite is the
second film (starting at Minute 2:00)!
The Catalytic Clothing Story from Helen Storey Foundation on Vimeo.
Find Catalytic Clothing on Twitter @ProfHelenStorey and on Facebook.
Links:
The Science Behind Catalytic Clothing: http://www.catalytic-clothing.org/faq.html
Image: ‘Field of Jeans’ Stereographic, Chelsea College of Art by DED
About the Author: Paige Brown is a recently accepted PhD in Mass Communications at the
Manship School, Louisiana State University, planning to focus her research in science
communications and science policy. She also holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biological and
Agricultural Engineering from Louisiana State University. Paige is the author of the popular science
blog From The Lab Bench, hosted on Nature Network. Although a scientist by trade, she is a writer at
heart. You can follow her on Twitter @FromTheLabBench and on Facebook. Follow on Twitter
@FromTheLabBench.
More »
The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of Scientific American.
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1 Comment
Add Comment
1. bucketofsquid
3:12 pm 03/26/2012
How much more pollutants are produced in the process of
doping the jeans with titanium oxide? Do you get a net gain or
do you simply shift pollution around so people can feel good
while doing nothing useful?
Page 6 / 7
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All in the Jeans at Durham’s Palace Green
last updated: 23 March 2012
AN UNUSUAL outdoor exhibition which mixes fashion and science is intriguing visitors to Durham City’s historic cathedral and its grounds.
The eye-catching Field of Jeans exhibition features rows of denims displayed in the shadow of the majestic cathedral on Palace Green to
highlight how everyday clothing can be used to purify the air we breathe.
The jeans contain ‘photocatalysts’ within the denim which react with sunlight to break down pollutants in the air. The exhibition, by
artist/designer Professor Helen Storey MBE and scientist Professor Tony Ryan OBE, is part of a series of events to celebrate Newcastle
Science Festival.
The Science Learning Centre North East has brought the exhibition, which runs until Friday March 16, to Durham City. Parts of it will then be transferred to the Eldon Square Shopping Centre, in Newcastle, until April 3 as part of a wider exhibition on Catalytic Clothing.
Claire Willis, deputy director of the Science Learning Centre North East, said: “People have been really intrigued by it, particularly against the
backdrop of a world heritage site.
“Hopefully this compelling exhibition will help people appreciate the global significance around the air we breathe and the reduction of harmful
pollutants.”
The exhibition has been part sponsored by NETPark, the North East Technology Park at Sedgefield via its Project C community scheme which
aims to encourage people in the North East to get excited about science and technology.
Ann Deary-Francis, NETPark’s community engagement officer,said:
“I'm really excited to see Field of Jeans on Palace Green. It’s perfect that such cutting edge science is on prominent display in a world heritage
site that has been a centre of learning for a thousand years.
“It’s a privilege for the County Durham Development Company and NETPark to support Newcastle Science Week this year, working with
Newcastle Science City and the Science Learning Centre North East.
“The variety of events on offer demonstrates how science and technology are at the heart of everything we do – excellence in sport, the cutting
edge of fashion, and the experience of being in a nightclub.”
Read more on the web: Picture courtesy of DED Associates
Related Images
(Click for larger image)
Picture courtesy of DED Associates
A joint initiative by the Department for Education and the Wellcome Trust.
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https://www.sciencelearningcentres.org.uk/news/28488
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Home > News > Cutting Edge > Future Fashion Unveiled
TECHNOLOGY
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By Frances Sutton on Wed 04 April 2012
The future of clean clothes is unveiled today at the Edinburgh
International Science Festival when artist and designer Professor
Helen Storey MBE and polymer chemist, Professor Tony Ryan OBE
reveal their field of air-purifying jeans and kilts in St Andrew
Square.
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Catalytic Clothing is a partnership that brings together the worlds of fashion and science and asks the public to join the campaign for clean air. Professor
Storey, from London College of Fashion and Professor Ryan, from the
University of Sheffield, together with partners and supporters including
CRISTAL GLOBAL and the world’s best know ecological cleaning brand ECOVER, have announced that they have
moved one step closer to making their world-changing ideas a reality. Employing existing technology in a new way,
this public experiment between fashion and science explores how clothing and textiles can be used as a catalytic
surface to purify the air we breathe.
Catalytic Clothing works by neutralising the pollution in the atmosphere around it using the essential ingredient, ultrafine titanium dioxide. This powerful ingredient, which is already used in self-cleaning glass for example, breaks
down harmful pollutants such as smog-producing nitrogen oxides when in the presence of UV light, converting them
into less harmful substances. Nothing sticks to your clothing – in fact it has the opposite effect and helps keep your
clothes cleaner! At the moment this technology is used in concrete and the surface of buildings to help keep then
smog and pollution free.
ECOVER, who are committed to producing sustainable and exceptional cleaning products are currently carrying our rigorous testing in collaboration with scientists from The University of Sheffield and Cristal Global who manufacture
the essential ingredient, ultrafine titanium dioxide CristalACTIVTM, to produce a laundry product that will transform
our clothes into air purifying catalysts.
Ecover said “All citizens become part of the solution instead of being a part of the problem. The idea is simple and
effective: by treating our clothes, each one of us can become a catalyst for clean air. Air pollution is neutralised
around our clothes as we walk through the city. With the help of sunlight, the catalysts will neutralise the dirt from
the air pollution around us that would otherwise end up stuck to our clothes. Cleaner air for our cities and clean
clothes, what could be better? Current testing indicates that we will be ready to launch a product to the market in
2013.”
Helen Storey and Tony Ryan will be taking part in an ‘in conversation’ at the National Museum of Scotland with
Professor John Shepherd CBE FRS about the motivation behind their collaboration, the technology they have
developed and the benefits it could bring. Wednesday 4 April Tickets £8/6 apply here:
http://www.sciencefestival.co.uk/whats-on/categories/talk/catalytic-clothing
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textiles, and a catalyzed denim kilt will be showcased at the Edinburgh International Science Festival at the end of
College, have together created a novel clothing label, Catalytic Clothing. The clothing is made of air-purifying
March. Tony Ryan, who will wear the kilt, has devised a way of spraying a fabric with photocatalysts to scrub at
least one major pollutant — nitric oxide — from the air. When light shines on the photocatalyst it responds to the
water in the air and breaks down into two hyper reactive molecules or radicals.
These radicals catch on to the nitric oxide and breaks them down. Those that aren’t broken down are harmlessly
washed away when the fabric is laundered. Ryan estimates that if everyone in the British city of Sheffield wore
catalyzed clothing they could reduce the nitric oxide — a gas that contributes to climate change — to bring the city
within safe limits!
Previous collaborationsbetween professors Ryan and Storey have included installations of pollutant reducing jeans
in various U.K. parks entitled “Field of Jeans,” and plastic dresses that dissolve in water.The goal of the pollutant
scrubbing kilt and the prior Catalytic Clothing exhibits is not unlike the clothing itself — to be a catalyst for change.
The team believes fashion is an accessible way to put forward the idea of fighting pollution and the buildup of
greenhouse gasses.The concept of the climate change kilt is a great way to get people thinking and talking!
[12-03-2555]
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Catalytic Clothing, in the form of air-purifying
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Artist and designer Professor Helen Storey, from the London College of
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of Sheffield, are behind the project.
The technology is already used in concrete and the surface of buildings
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Wednesday, 4 April 2012
Crafty Green
Poet
Catalytic Clothes and Invisible Worlds
Today's event at the Edinburgh International Science Festival was Catalytic Clothing.
Professor Helen Storey who is an artist and fashion designer at the Centre for Sustainable
Fashion at London College of Fashion has worked with polymer chemist Professor Tony
Ryan to produce catalytic clothing and clothes conditioners. The idea being that wearing
these clothes, or ordinary clothes treated with these conditioners, one can catalyse
pollutants into harmless chemicals. The idea is very much still in the early stages and so far
has only been rigorously tested with nitric oxide which produces nitrates as an end result.
These nitrates then wash out of the clothes and into the water supply, which could be a
problem (that being one of the issues still being studied and nitrate run-off from agricultural
land being a major issue). There was excellent audience discussion facilitated by Professor
John Shephard, which centred on issues such as the need to reduce pollution in the first
place and the potential side effects of the clothing. I was very impressed by the openness of
Professors Helen Story and Tony Ryan in taking their ideas into the world for discussion at
this early stage. Not only is this project a very good example of art and science working
together, but also a very good example of open research. Whether it will prove to be a
genuine environmental solution remains to be seen, but as a concept it is certainly very
exciting!
Edinburgh,
Scotland
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Words and photos copyright
Juliet Wilson, unless otherwise
stated. Please don’t use my
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impolite; bad karma &
infringes copyright. Read
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bloggers.
Unthinkable Skies
Earlier in the day I had visited the small exhibition of catalytic jeans and kilts in St Andrews
Square.
Click the photo to find out how
to buy a copy!
You can also find me at
Luckily by this time the sleet, snow and hail had stopped (although it was still very cold) so I
was able to enjoy the wonderful Invisible Worlds exhibition, which includes incredibly
beautiful images of microscopic nature and immense galaxies. I'd passed it on the bus
several times, but it is definitely worth getting off the bus and having a really good look.
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Disclaimer - Clicket gave me a free ticket for the Catalytic Clothes event.
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find
out more.
bee creative
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Crafting a Green World
Crafted by Crafty Green Poet at 8:58 PM
Thinking about: art, Edinburgh International Science Festival, In and around Edinburgh
9 birds singing:
sandy said...
Very interesting, Juliet.
9:56 PM
Sew Two Pairs of Shorts
from One Upcycled T-Shirt,
Tute #2: Capri Shorts from
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20 hours ago
Junkculture
Francesca Pastine:
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Cathy Cullis
The Little Visitor
1 day ago
Carol Steel 5050 said...
Altogether fascinating. How refreshing to have an open discussion between art
and science in the interest of the environment.
dosankodebbie's
etegami notebook
11:32 PM
illustration friday (faded)
1 day ago
bunnits said...
The Qi Papers
Very interesting concept.
Top Bun
1 day ago
Juliet, I had to laugh at the sound of "catalytic" clothes. Because of what is
going on at my house, I think I have "CAT-a-lytic" clothing.
11:33 PM
Hannah Stephenson said...
The "Field of Jeans" is very funny and surreal....I love that.
The Easternmost
Potter in the United
States
RAZED Exhibit is Coming
Together!
2 days ago
1:36 AM
Ascender Rises Above
shoreacres said...
There Are Few Sights
Sadder Than A Ruined
Book
1 week ago
Hmmmm... Don't know about this idea. But, I completely applaud the
exploration. For decades we lived with that abysmal polyester clothing, and the
formaldehyde that was used to process it. Finally, folks started to realize that
we were walking around clothed in poison. Not such a good idea.
When it comes to clothing, one of the saddest things to me is that people
increasingly are forbidden to use clothes lines - and the power of the sun and
wind to dry their laundry. In order to achieve a uniform "beauty" home owner
associations forbid exactly the sort of "old-fashioned" activity that used to be
common.
Nothing in the world is better than laundry smelling of the sunshine and wind!
2:48 AM
Caroline Gill said...
That Invisible Worlds exhibition looks fascinating, Juliet. It reminds me (a bit) of
the mind-blowing 'Earth from the Air' exhibition which I enjoyed in Swansea and
Bath 18 months or so ago.
Ecoart Scotland
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Artisan Jo Morphett
Ms Sparrow said...
Page 2 / 9
What interesting, helpful ideas were presented. Every little bit helps when it
comes to protecting the environment.
Green-Art
3:57 PM
Green
Megan Coyle said...
Guardian Environment
I love the catalytic jeans! what fun!
Green news roundup: Lost
bumblebee, shale gas
and 'ethical' veal
19 minutes ago
12:29 AM
Draffin Bears said...
Hi Juliet,
TreeHugger
Looks like a fun exhibition and thanks for showing us.
I am with Shoreacres about the clothesline, that is all I use as I do not own a
clothes dryer.
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Employing existing technology in a new way, this public experiment between
fashion and science explores how clothing and textiles can be used as a
catalytic surface to purify the air we breathe.
Since launching in June 2011 the campaign for clean air has spread across
the globe and has reached over 300 million people. The Catalytic Clothing film
starring Erin O´Connor which went viral, continues to be downloaded all over the world.
News organisations from Russia to Singapore have been quick to grasp the
enormous potential for Catalytic Clothing to reduce global air pollution, a
problem which is reaching dangerously high levels in towns and cities across
the world. Air quality is a serious health issue and a contributory factor in the
premature deaths of approximately 50,000 premature deaths nationally.
In talking about the project Professor Tony Ryan OBE, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for
the Faculty of Science at the University of Sheffield commented: "Catalytic
Clothing is a beautiful manifestation of a deeply technical process. We will
engage the public in formulating its nature and application allowing us to
develop something that is both user-friendly and technically excellent."
Professor Helen Storey MBE added: "Catalytic Clothing is the most
challenging, globally relevant project I have ever attempted. Behind almost all
human advancement lies a science. Through my work, I try to share and
involve the public with these possibilities."
A host of Catalytic Clothing events will be kicking off across the UK and
globally in 2012. These events started yesterday (Wednesday 4 April 2012)
with the Edinburgh International Science Festival. Here, a small field of
bespoke denim kilts, produced in Edinburgh by 21st Century Kilts, were
catalysed and `planted´ with denim jeans in Saint Andrew Square to demonstrate this compelling idea which has global significance for the air we
breathe and the reduction of harmful pollutants.
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ALL WALKS’ ERIN O’CONNOR CLEANS UP IN CATALYTIC
CLOTHING’S ECO-FRIENDLY FABRICS
Watch All Walks Co-Founder Erin O'Connor in Catalytic Clothing's film, Herself:
Catalytic Clothing - Herself from Helen Storey Foundation on Vimeo.
Fashion and science made a unique duo at this years Edinburgh International Science Festival. Artist and designer Helen Storey MBE from the London College of Fashion
and scientist Professor Tony Ryan OBE from The University of Sheffield, the dynamic patnership behind Catalytic Clothing, revealed their exciting vision of air purifying jeans
and kilts.
Catalytic Clothing is a refreshing and clever initiative combining fashion and science. The idea is simple, but powerful. By treating the garments with a unique blend of titanium
dioxide, they act as a catalyst to clean the air around them. This means that each one of us can help neutralise air pollution simply by walking around. Not only does the air
become cleaner, but our clothes do too. With the help of sunlight, the catalysts will neutralise the dirt from the air pollution around us that would otherwise end up stuck to our
clothes, meaning fewer trips to the launderette will be needed, saving energy.
http://allwalks.org/index.php/tag/helen-storey-mbe/
Page 1 / 2
Tony and Helen at Edinburgh International Science Festival
Speaking about the project, Prof Helen Storey said:
“Catalytic Clothing is the most challenging, globally relevant project I have ever attempted. Behind almost all human
advancement, lies science. Through my work, I try to share and involve the public with these possibilities.”
Since launching in June 2011, the campaign for clean air has spread across the globe and has reached over 300 million people. The Catalytic Clothing film stars All Walks'
Co-Founder Erin O’Connor and has gone 'viral', continuing to be downloaded all over the world.
If everything goes smoothly, we will not have long to wait long before we see this initiative come to life. Current testing indicates that Catalytic Clothing will be ready to launch to
the market as an Ecover laundry product by 2013.
Click here to see a film charting the story so far.
To keep up with all the latest developments, follow Catalyst Clothing on Twitter @ProfHelenStorey.
***
Words by Hanna Fillingham
Editor Charlotte Gush, on Twitter @CavaCharlotte
***
Hanna Fillingham is a second year Journalism student at Cardiff University.
During the summer of 2011, Hanna worked as an intern for Caryn Franklin.
Hanna has a blog here, and is on Twitter @hannafillingham
Apr 13, 2012 | Categories: Blog | Tags: Catalytic Clothing, Edinburgh International Science Festival, Erin O'Connor, fashion and science, Hanna Fill, Helen Storey MBE, Herself film, jeans, kilts,
Prof Helen Storey, Radiohead | Comments Off
http://allwalks.org/index.php/tag/helen-storey-mbe/
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LCF catalytic dress nominated for award
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Purifying the air we breathe through the
surface of our clothes is among the
sustainability innovations nominated for the
Innovation and Design Awards 2012.
Editors' Blog
Right to Ride
Catalytic Clothing, a project between LCF’s
Professor Helen Storey MBE and Professor
Tony Ryan of University of Sheffield, made it
on this years’ shortlist due to its potential to
tackle air pollution.
Resources
The catalytic dress competes with 13 other
pioneering projects tackling environmental problems.
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Among them are the Global Soap Project, which collects used soaps from hotels and sends them
to vulnerable populations throughout the world, and the Solarball, a hamster ball that uses
sunlight to purify water.
The winners of the sixth Innovation and Design Awards are decided by a public vote on the
Condé Nast Traveller website in eleven different categories from sustainability to transport.
You can vote for the catalytic dress and other innovations until the 30th of April at
http://www.cntraveller.com/magazine/innovation-and-design
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The Catalytic Clothing project will catwalk its way to the Edinburgh International Science Festival, March 30 to April 15,
and will see Ryan in a catalyzed denim kilt—that will take nitrous oxide and volatile organics out of the air—and Storey
will be rocking an air-purifying Vivienne Westwood tartan ball frock.
The technology works because a catalyst takes part in a reaction but isn’t changed by it, so it stays there and can be
used many times—absorbing pollutants, changing them, then sending them back out into the atmosphere as
something more benign. For instance, it can transform the toxic greenhouse gas nitrous oxide into water soluble
nitrate. Explaining how the Catalytic Clothing technology could impact a local environment Ryan said, “If all the people
in Sheffield wore catalytically enabled clothes, then they’d be able to take out enough nitrous oxide to keep us
[Sheffield: pop. 555,500] below the safe limit throughout the whole of the year.”
Data visualization of international online engagement with the project
Speaking about putting his theory into practice Ryan said, “We hope to set up a pop-up laundry so people can bring
their clothes in and have them done and go out and be catalysed and I’m hoping that it’ll get into the market. But it’ll
get into the market in such a way that it’s like herd immunity, one or two people doing it won’t have any effect and you
won’t benefit from you doing it, but you will benefit from me and everybody else doing it. So it’s a whole community
thing.”
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Taken from “Herself” featuring Erin O’ Connor
To do so takes revolutionary thinking, and that’s what Catalytic Clothing represents. An artist (Helen
Storey MBE) and a scientist (Tony Ryan OBE) taking one of the biggest problems facing urban
society -pollution- and responding with a groundbreaking, yet simple, solution: clothes with the
power to clean the air.
The 2011 “Herself” exhibition introduced the public to “the world’s first air-purifying dress”. Not only
was this hugely innovative but also very beautiful. In the accompanying video Thom Yorke’s voice
floats eerily as Erin O’ Connor extends gracefully elongated limbs, juxtaposed against molecular
structures and scrolling source codes. Imaginations were sparked globally, the video spreading
across 75 countries with 3100 downloads within the first two days of it’s release. The titania cement
coated dress showed the tecnology in its initial stages of development but the concept was strong
and the message delivered.
Subsequently a ‘Field of Jeans’ treated with the formula was erected at Euston Square and Chelsea
College of Art, demonstrating the need for the technology to be commonplace in order to have an
effect. This drew public attention to the project by situating it in communal areas, beyond the world of
fashion and art.
Without explanation the ‘air purifying clothing’ tagline sounds a little space age, but there is a solid
scientific base that makes the concept much easier to grasp.The project applies nanotechnology
(manipulation of matter on a molecular scale) to clothing, coating garments with titanium dioxide
particles. These are photocatalysts, reacting with light to break down airbourne pollutants and
resulting in purification of the surrounding air. Similar technology already exists in sunscreen and
certain paints, but never before has it been applied to clothing. Though one person wearing a
catalytic garment would make no real impact, fitting the technology into existing social routines via
the formulation of an everyday product such as a fabric conditioner could mean fantastic results in
the reduction of pollutants. On a busy road like Oxford Street every 40 people in treated clothing
crossing each 1m of pavement would purify 2m² of air.
This technology was already present in other products, but how was the photocatalytic process
developed to apply to clothing and how long did this process take?
Helen: We are still in the process of designing the final delivery method for the catalyst to adhere
best to the textile surface, when we are done, that particular part of the process will have taken about
2 years. The final formula will be subject to IP restrictions by the technical team that have formulated
it.
Caroline: We have been working on this since Feb 2008.
Is the catalytic clothing concept one that the organisation sees becoming widespread in future?
H:The Catclo project has been a collaboration between the arts and sciences – the arts, and our
cultural activities, have deliberately taken the concept early into the public domain ( ie, before it is
http://lizmiserables.wordpress.com/2012/04/24/profile-catalytic-clothing-helen-storey-caroline-coates-qa/
Page 1 / 3
finished) in order to let ‘ public voice’ share its concerns, questions and or, enthusiasm for it. This is
a ‘first’ as best we know it, where there is some kind of co creation process going on between the
public at large and the creation of the science. In this sense Catclo isn’t an organisation, but a
MOVEMENT and a new way of working.
C:This work has been a major development and hugely ambitious in terms of its influence and
reach. I hope we can work to a similar level in the future.
Has there been industrial interest in harnessing nanotechnology?
H: Yes, from many quarters all around the world.
C: From the web site you can see we have industry partners. The public are very curious about this
new science as a result.
Young designers are increasingly conscious of the industry’s environmental impact. How accessible is nanotechnology to emerging talents?
H: It’s a two way process, students from the design side need to be naturally curious, intelligent and
tenacious in how they go about finding out about nano tech and finding scientists willing and able to
communicate that world to them. The scientists need to find ways to disseminate their knowledge to
design students and the public at large and some are better at it than others.
Would Catalytic Clothing consider working with young designers on future projects?
C: Yes. But Cat Clo is not a company – its a collaboration of partners and supporters. We always try
to engage students in the process . For example in Newcastle later this week 12 science students
will act as ambassadors for the project and we answer student enquiries all the time. We are also
trying to make sure Cat Clo is used in schools for 21st Century Science.
To find out more, view “Herself” and for upcoming events visit http://www.catalytic-clothing.org/
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How clothes could clean the air we
breathe
Date: 02 May 2012
A public experiment looking to examine how clothing and textiles
could be used as a ‘catalytic surface’ to help purify air has been
unveiled at the Edinburgh International Science Festival.
The future of clean clothes was unveiled at the recent Edinburgh
International Science Festival. Artist and designer Professor Helen
Storey MBE and polymer chemist, Professor Tony Ryan OBE revealed
their field of air-purifying jeans and kilts in St Andrew Square.
Catalytic Clothing is a partnership that brings together the worlds of
fashion and science and asks the public to join the campaign for clean
air. Professor Storey, from London College of Fashion and Professor
Ryan, from the University of Sheffield, together with partners and
supporters including Cristal Global and the world’s best-known
ecological cleaning brand Ecover, have announced that they have moved
one step closer to making their world-changing ideas a reality.
Employing existing technology in a new way, this public experiment
between fashion and science explores how clothing and textiles can be
used as a catalytic surface to purify the air we breathe.
Catalytic Clothing works by neutralising the pollution in the atmosphere
around it using the essential ingredient, ultrafine titanium dioxide. This
powerful ingredient, which is already used in self-cleaning glass, breaks
down harmful pollutants when in the presence of UV light and converts
them into less harmful substances.
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Nothing sticks to your clothing – in fact it has the opposite effect and
helps keep your clothes cleaner! At the moment this technology is used
in concrete and the surface of buildings to help keep then smog and
pollution free.
Ecover are currently carrying our rigorous testing in collaboration with
scientists from The University of Sheffield and Cristal Global who
manufacture the ultrafine titanium dioxide CristalACTIVTM, to produce a
laundry product that will transform our clothes into air-purifying catalysts.
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Subscribe
“All citizens become part of the solution instead of being a part of the
problem,” said an Ecover spokesperson. “The idea is simple and
effective: by treating our clothes, each one of us can become a catalyst
for clean air.
“Air pollution is neutralised around our clothes as we walk through the
city. With the help of sunlight, the catalysts will neutralise the dirt from the
air pollution around us that would otherwise end up stuck to our clothes.
Cleaner air for our cities and clean clothes - what could be better?”
Current testing has indicated that a product could be ready to launch to
the market as soon as 2013.
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‘From Fashion to Science –
Tales of Collaboration’
Helen Storey took the last talk of the day. ‘ From Fashion to Science – Tales of
Collaboration’ Helens journey is interesting and quirky. The way she talks and
thinks about things is very relaxed and open. Always ready for a challenge. Earlier in the year I attended her and Tony Ryan’s Catalytic Clothing lecture at
Edinburgh Science festival. It was great to hear more about this and her other
projects successfully and beautifully bringing fashion and science together.
One of the first things she talked about was her initial idea of a bottle with
a conscience, one that would dissolve when the bottle itself recognised it was no longer needed. I love the idea of an object like a bottle having a train of thought
and almost having a kind of empathy. This project has resulted in a few different
outcomes one being shampoo sachets that dissolve once used under a hot tap.
To relate this back to Fashion and create a conversation with the public, the idea of the dissolving dress came about. As the fabric dissolves it creates many patterns and exciting developments along the way. Helen provided a live
demonstration of the dissolvable fabric working. (photos at end) Helen
explained that ‘no one is scared of a frock’ so the dress and clothing create a
great interface to interact with the public. One of their first dresses called
‘Herself’ was put outside a pub in Sheffield and left with an explanation and a feedback blackboard. What a great way to see the public’s reaction, and
fuel their curiosity. The dissolvable clothing was beautifully captured by Nick Knight in his photographs and film.
http://designmetheworld.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/from-fashion-to-science-tales-of-collaboration/
Page 1 / 4
More Photos
TAGS
Animation Arthur Potts Dawson B a r b i c a n
Barcelona Chicks on Speed C h r i s t m a s colour
cushions David Meldrum
Design Dundee
U n i v e r s i t y E d i n b u r g h F i l m Food gifts
Gingerbread Houses G r a n n y C l o u d H o m e m a d e
ideas Illustration Issey Miyake Jacques Tati Japan
Jewellery Knit Knitted London Missoni Mixed
Media Textiles Movimiento Clasico Neon
optimistic Park Slope Cooperative Printed
textiles printing Rei Kawakubo s m a r t c a r S y l v a i n
C h o m e t T e a c h e r s Technophobes
textiles
The Peoples Supermarket T i p p-e x trends y o h j i
Yamamoto
http://showstudio.com/project/wonderland#fashion_film - click here to see
film and find out a bit more about the others involved.
Helen then went on to talk about her work with Tony Ryan on Catalytic
Clothing. Catalytic clothing is such an interesting idea and one I would love to
use when it’s accesible. Again the ideas of a public interface and interaction is
well considered. The viral video below captures imagination, curiosity and interaction.
TWEETS
On my way to Paris! Woop woop 1 week ago
Good morning! http://t.co/2qZQ55eR
1 week ago
Loving these cupcakes! Great idea to put biscuit
at bottom! http://t.co/iSDkFaMD 1 week ago
wp.me/p15piQ-Pi A trip to Jupiter Artland in
pictures, really enjoyed the shadows created by
Antony Gormley's Firmament 1 week ago
Follow @designmeworld
For my next year project I am interested in bringing science (the way people
think and learn), education and textiles together. Helens work gives a great idea
of how beautiful this could be. Her talk illustrated how important the conversation with the public is. Her team have managed to do this slightly
differently and get the public interested and inspired. One of the interesting ideas was allowing people to ask any question on the catalytic clothing Facebook
Page 2 / 4
page. This now has a FAQ page with every question asked and an answer to each
one. Click here to see this: FAQ I am also interested in collaborating with someone who knows more about the way we think to create something with
meaning. The two tips Helen shared were
Be clear what you care about. Align it to what the world
needs.
I can’t wait to start my forth year journey trying to pursue this advice and find what it is I am interested in and how I can put more meaning in to my designing.
Her current project is looking at addiction and which bit of the brain deals with
this. They are focusing on people addicted to designer shoes. Again bringing it
back to fashion and relating with what is real life. I am very interested to find out more about this as I think it may help me develop my idea for 4th year and give
me some insight in to how far you can push it.
At one point she talked about targeting ‘human behavior as it exists’ This is
something I think I was already starting to consider for my projects but something I consciously want to think about for future ones.
In the question and answer session she talked about collaborations. I was
interested in how she has made them work so successfully. She explained that she believes it is all down to the people. This is something I had been discussing earlier in the day, what makes or brakes collaboration? Is it the personalities and
the way they work together?
Lots of things to think about. I will definitely try to contact Helen as I feel she may be able to help me find what would make a project meaningful, inspiring and worthwhile.
So thanks to DJCAD for putting on such great talks and the speakers for coming
and sharing their knowledge and experience’s with us. Another inspiring and
mind boggling day at DJCAD!
Here are the photos of the dissolving fabric’s:
Like Be the first to like this post.
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Catalytic Clothing scoops Condé Nast Traveller Innovation and Design Award 2012
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Last night in the beautiful surroundings of the London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor
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Catalytic Clothing, a pioneering project which seeks to transform our clothing into
potent air purifying catalysts, has been nominated in the sustainability category of the
Condé Nast Innovation and Design Awards 2012. This ground breaking project is a collaboration between LCF’s Professor Helen Storey MBE and Professor Tony Ryan of
University of Sheffield and has the potential to tackle air pollution, one of the world’s
biggest environmental problems. This is the second time Helen and Tony’s work has
been nominated for these prestigious awards: Wonderland, which asked its audience
to re-consider waste, plastics and packaging, was nominated in 2010.
Uncategorized (1)
Student work on Showtime
The shortlist for the awards was compiled by a panel of experts including, Sir Nicholas
Serota Director of Tate, Rowan Moore architecture critic of the Observer, Brent
Hoberman co-founder of Lastminute.com and now chairman of Made.com and Sarah Miller editor of Condé Nast Traveller.
To clinch the award Helen and Tony need your help – the award winner is decided
entirely through a public vote – so please lend us your support and vote now!
n
Vote for Catalytic Clothing
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Read about Catalytic Clothing in Edinburgh
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Last week Catalytic Clothing arrived in Scotland for the Edinburgh International
Science Festival.
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Wearing a Vivienne Westwood gown inbued with Catalytic Clothing technology London
College of Fashion Visiting Professor Helen Storey MBE posed alongside project
partner Professor Tony Ryan OBE of University of Sheffield to launch the week’s
activities.
Helen and Tony took part in an ‘In Conversation’ at the National Museum of Scotland
with Professor John Shepherd CBE FRS about the motivation behind their collaboration and how Catalytic Clothing could bring about the reduction of air
pollution in our towns and cities.
Page 2 / 3
Tony Ryan and Helen Storey in conversation with Professor John Shepherd at the National
Museum of Scotland. Image:© Nik Daughtry, DED
To demonstrate this compelling idea, which has global significance for the air we
breathe and the reduction of harmful pollutants, a small field of catalysed bespoke
denim kilts, produced in Edinburgh by 21st Century Kilts, were ‘planted’ alongside
denim jeans in Saint Andrew’s Square.
n
The next stop for Catalytic Clothing is Dubai. To follow the progress please
follow Helen on twitter or visit the Catalytic Clothing website
n
Vote for Catalytic Clothing in the Condé Nast Innovation and Design Awards 2012
Posted in collaborations, Industry, news, Research, staff | 1 Comment »
Tags: catalytic clothing, professor helen storey mbe, professor tony ryan obe
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Style
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« Stud it to me! Festival Fashion SS12 Update | Want to be part of the world’s longest social scarf? »
Fashion Will Save Us – Catalytic Clothing
BY SOPHIECHA
The stylish outpourings of
4 bloggers. 50% all things
fashion, 50% things to
do/see/hear/experience in
London and beyond. Get
it? It’s style…and then
some.
@Style_ThenSome on
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Finally, I get my hands
on some real live bees
fb.me/1oH4mVrkA
1 hour ago
Finally, I get my hands
on some real live bees
wp.me/p1sRO9-1Aj
5 hours ago
Here it is fresh out of
the oven, all chocolatey
and Guinnessy. I'll blog
the recipe soon #cake
#baking
lockerz.com/s/216615486
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Is social media stopping
us from living in the
moment?
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Fashion Will Save Us –
Catalytic Clothing
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their cash for charity or care about the environment just because Vivienne said so.
@LadyMPresents *hands
over a virtual spoon to
lick* it's in the oven
now! 15 hours ago
Follow @Style_thensome
And it looks like fashion’s latest mission is air quality. Conde NastTraveller just gave an Innovation and Design award (in
Style and then some
Fashion can save many things from helping you to pull off an interview to persuading legions of women to part with
the Sustainability category) to Catalytic Clothing, a project between fashion designer/ LCF Professor Helen Storey and
university Professor/scientist Anthony Ryan.
The Catalytic Clothing products – like the dress above – use the surface area of the clothes to purify the air around us. It
works like this: the fabric is treated with nano-titania (very small particles of titanium dioxide) and this then works as a
catalyst to speed up the process of converting pollution in the air to harmless particles. All that good work and they don’t
look too shabby either.
‘Field of Jeans’ is currently being exhibited at the Danish Design Centre in Copenhagen plus another Catalytic Clothing
project ‘Herself’ is showing until August in Dubai.
Watch the Catalytic Clothing video or find out more about their plans on the website.
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Daring display of denim at Durham Cathedral
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Transfer Rumours May 27, 2012: Sunderland, Manchester
City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham,
QPR
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Durham University students Lucy Watson and Amy Rolf with the Field of Jeans artwork Palace Green, Durham.
Published on Thursday 15 March 2012 17:08
A DARING display of denim has made its home on the green at Durham
Cathedral.
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The Field of Jeans exhibition features rows of jeans mounted on wooden
poles, at Palace Green.
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tea party for cancer
charity
The exhibition mixes fashion and science to highlight how everyday
clothing can purify the air we breathe with.
VIDEO: Sunderland
fanzine editor talks about
football club charity role
Know as catalytic clothing, the jeans contain photocatalysts which react
with sunlight to break down pollutants in the air.
Row over parking at
football centre
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Forces Day to remember
fallen para
In association with
Claire Willis, deputy director of Durham University’s Science Learning
Centre, which has brought the exhibition, said: “People have been really
intrigued by it, particularly against the backdrop of a world heritage site.
“Hopefully this compelling exhibition will help people appreciate the global
significance around the air we breathe and the reduction of harmful
pollutants.”
The exhibition, by artist Professor Helen Storey and scientist Professor
Tony Ryan, has been part sponsored by NetPark, the North East
Technology Park at Sedgefield.
Community engagement officer Ann Deary-Francis said: “I’m really excited
to see Field of Jeans on Palace Green.
“It’s perfect that such cutting edge science is on prominent display in a
world heritage site that has been a centre of learning for a thousand
years.”
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Helen Storey MBE, fashion technologist
Helen Storey MBE and Tony Ryan OBE, have collaborated on Catalytic Clothing. The
duo has created a laundry product which will tackle air pollution.
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Fashion collaborations often pair a high-street chain with a world-class
designer. But forget new-season chic; now it’s all about fashion pairing
with science, believes Professor Professor Helen Storey MBE, copioneer behind Catalytic Clothing – nanotechnology that allows our
clothes to purify the air around us.
“I had a poor early education and little experience of science, but I’ve
always been curious about it,” explains 52-year-old Storey of her north
London upbringing. Her academic seat is now the Centre for Sustainable
Fashion at the prestigious London College of Fashion.
Having graduated in 1981, Helen designed at Valentino in Italy before
returning to London and creating her own award-winning collections.
Design gave way to innovation, more awards and five honorary
professorships. Then in 2005, Unilever challenged her as an artist to
provoke them into new thinking on sustainability.
“The idea we ended up with was a bottle that when you’ve finished with it,
you run it under a hot tap and it resorts to a gel with soil-like properties.
Packaging problem gone.”
To conquer the science bit, Helen enlisted pro vice-chancellor of
Sheffield University’s faculty of science, Professor Professor Tony Ryan
OBE, having heard him on Radio 4: “He sounded like a cross between a
geek and a stand-up comic, but most of all, a very approachable
humanitarian.”
The collaboration led them to co-develop Catalytic Clothing. Leeds-born
Ryan, 50, explains the genesis: “We were working with some kids and
one of them asked about ambient energy, or how you can use the sun or
wind, for example, to do something chemically. I calculated the surface
area of the fibres of my suit — 80 square metres — went back to the
workshop and said, ‘Game on’.”
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Ryan and Storey hit on pairing catalytic nanotechnology – in the wash –
to the clothes we wear every day. Wherever you go in these clothes,
they’ll be purifying the air. Once developed, supermodel Erin O’Connor
was drafted in to raise awareness and the resulting video went viral.
Catalytic Clothing’s laundry product is expected to launch in late 2013,
after which Ryan will continue to pursue his goal of securing a
Laurence KemballCook, eco innovator
sustainable future for the world through science. Storey’s dream? “I’m
doing it. I’m surrounded by some quite amazing people. It’s life-affirming
to be around that energy. I’ll see where it takes me.”
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Download: PDF | Citation | XML
Titanium Dioxide Photocleans Polluted Air
Print article
Published in 120(6) June 2012
Comments: 0
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Adrian Burton
Adrian Burton is a biologist living in Spain who also writes regularly for The
Lancet Oncology, The Lancet Neurology, and Frontiers in Ecology and the
Environment.
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Citation: Burton A 2012. Titanium Dioxide Photocleans Polluted Air. Environ Health Perspect 120:a229-a229.
Combustion Emissions
http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.120-a229
Urban Issues
Built Environment
Online: 01 June 2012
Innovative Technologies
Ozone
Could titanium-clean air be how advertisers one day try to sell us the virtues of paint or even clothing
that reduces the pollution caused by automobiles?
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The technology behind such products involves the well-known ability of titanium dioxide (TiO2 )to
photocatalytically split water to form hydroxyl and peroxyl radicals,1 a reaction that has already been
E-mail this article
harnessed to make self-cleaning windows.2 Pacific Paints (Boysen) Philippines, Inc., is now promoting
a paint it claims cleans air of automobile-produced nitrogen oxides (NOX)—known respiratory irritants
and precursor molecules of ground-level ozone.3 In the presence of sunlight, TiO2 nanoparticles in the
paint form hydroxyl and peroxyl radicals, which then react with NOX in the air to produce nitric acid.
This reacts with calcium carbonate in the paint matrix to produce minute quantities of calcium nitrate,
water, and carbon dioxide (CO2 ). Another company, Alcoa, is marketing a coating for aluminum building
panels that relies on the same kind of photochemistry,4 while Boral Roofing is using it to make
pollution-reducing roof tiles.5
Cristal Global produces the CristalACTiV™ TiO2 nanoparticles currently used by Pacific Paints in their
Boysen KNOxOUT™ paint. In one trial in Manila’s Guadalupe train station, Cristal Global painted 4,100
m2 of exterior wall and found the paint removed about 26 g of NOX per 100 m2 of painted surface. The
company claims each painted square meter could remove 80 g of NOX per year. In another trial that
ran over four years, a 135-m2 wall in London was treated with another Cristal product and the NOX
levels in its vicinity measured. Compared with control areas in other parts of the city, the company
reported reductions as great as 60% for the NOX species nitric oxide and 20% for the species nitrogen
dioxide. The photocatalytic paint is even reported to work in the low-light environment of multistory
parking lots, capturing 2.2 g of NOX per square meter per year.6
Based on trial data, Cristal Global claims that a 100-m2 surface painted with KNOxOUT could, in the
course of a year, remove the NOX equivalent to that produced by a car driven more than 130 km.6 It
is, of course, hard to predict exactly how much NOX might actually be removed, given the difficulty of
controlling city environments in outdoor trials.
“It is clear that these paints work,” says Sixto Malato, head of the Research Unit at Spain’s Plataforma
Solar de Almería, an expert in photochemistry with no connection to the company. “But it’s also true
that these photocatalytic materials deteriorate quite easily. How long they will stay functional is
therefore unclear. I don’t know of any studies that guarantee durability for, say, five to ten years, the
interval at which many walls, buildings, and garages might normally be painted. We need to undertake
long-term durability studies in very controlled environments that might allow some official certificate of
quality to be issued.”
http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.120-a229
Page 1 / 3
An exhibit of “catalytic jeans” is part of the Newcastle (U.K.) Science Festival 2012.
‘Field of Jeans’ Stereographic, Durham by DED http://www.dedass.com
Brian Pickett, business director for performance chemicals business at Cristal Global, says the paint
may cost twice the normal price. “However, the major cost associated with applying [any] paint is in
the labor, which does not change,” he says. “So the overall impact is about ten percent more than the
application of a nonphotocatalytic paint.”
Meanwhile, researchers in the United Kingdom are making use of the same reactions to create NOX removing “catalytic clothing” in which TiO2 nanoparticles and calcium carbonate are added to fabrics,
sprayed onto clothes, or applied during washing.7 “The method of delivery we are pursuing is via a
laundry product,” explains Helen Storey, a professor of fashion and science at the London College of
Fashion. “In this sense, any clothing that can be washed . . . would be able to carry the catalyst.”
Someone wearing all catalytic clothing all day could potentially remove 6 g of NOX per day, or 2 kg a
year, calculates Anthony Ryan, pro-vice-chancellor for the Faculty of Science at the University of
Sheffield, who is involved in the project. He estimates four “catalyzed” people could take out the NOX
pollution from one European car producing 8 kg per year over 15,000 km. Under European clean-air
rules enacted in 2008,8 the city of Sheffield must reduce its NOX production by some 10% by 2015,
from 9,000 to 8,000 metric tons per year. For that, “w e’d need half a million people to be catalyzed—
about half the population,” says Ryan.
The CO2 and nitrate products of NOX degradation are, however, themselves pollutants. CO2 is a
greenhouse gas, and nitrates pollute waterways, contributing to eutrophication. Excessive concentrations of nitrates in drinking water cause the blood disorder methemoglobinemia and may also
contribute to the risk of thyroid problems, adverse birth outcomes, and cancer.9
So are we not simply swapping one pollution problem for another? Ryan says NOX is much more—and
more immediately—harmful than these end products, but Malato believes we need to know more
about the titanium dioxide lost to the wastewater system during washing, which might eventually
enter rivers. “If activated by light, it would produce radicals that might harm aquatic organisms,” he
says. Malato also expresses concern that the TiO2 nanoparticles used in these products might behave
differently than conventional TiO2 in biological systems, and he warns that studies should be
performed to detemine whether they present any additional health hazard.
Could innovative applications like these really mop up some of the harmful compounds we spill into the
air? “Maybe some,” says Felix López, a professor of research with the Spanish National Research Council in Madrid. “But the real solution, of course, is not to pollute in the first place.”
References and Notes Top
1. Fujishima A, Honda K.. Electrochemical photolysis of water at a semiconductorelectrode. Nature 238
(5358):37–38. 1972. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/238037a0
2. See for example: PPG Residential Glass. How It Works: Self-Cleaning Window Glass Technology
[website]. Pittsburgh, PA:PPG Industries (2001–2011). Available:
http://www.ppg.com/CORPORATE/IDEASCAPES/ RESGLASS/HOMEOWNERS/PRODUCT/SUNCLEAN/Pag es/SunCleanHowItWorks.aspx [accessed 20 Apr 2012].
3. EPA. Region 7 Air Program: Health Effects of Pollution [website]. Kansas City, KS:U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, Region 7 (updated 17 Apr 2012). Available: http://www.epa.gov/region07/air/quality/ health.htm [accessed 20 Apr 2012].
4. Alcoa 2011. Eastman, GA:Alcoa Architectural Products: Smog-Eating Buildings? Available:
http://www.alcoa.com/aap/north_america/p df/ecoclean/EcoClean_Newsletter1.pdf [accessed 30 Apr 2012].
5. Boral Roofing—Clay and Concrete Roof Tiles [website]. Sydney, Australia:Boral Limited (2012).
Available: http://boralna.com/rooftiles/rooftiles.a sp [accessed 20 Apr 2012].
6. Cristal ACTiv™ [website]. London, UK:Cristal Global (2012). Available: http://cristalactiv.tcsondemand.com/lite rature [accessed 20 Apr 2012].
7. Catalytic Clothing [website]. Sheffield and London, UK:University of Sheffield, University of the Arts
London/London College of Fashion (2012). Available: www.catalytic-clothing.org [accessed 20 Apr 2012].
8. Council Decision (EC) No. 50/2008, OJ L 152 of 21 May 2008. Available: http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexU riServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:152:0001:0044:EN :PDF [accessed 20 Apr 2012].
http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.120-a229
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This Clothing Can Help Clean Our Air
04/07/2012
Posted in: sustainable design, eco fashion, clean tech, eco company
The concept line Catalytic Clothing uses nanotechnology to
break down airborne pollutants that contribute to climate
change.
The hybrid of designer Helen Storey and chemist Tony Ryan, Catalytic Clothing
takes eco-friendly apparel to a whole new level. Currently just a concept and not
something you can go out and buy, Catalytic Clothing will return this Spring when
the two attend Edinburgh International Science Festival wearing clothing that will
absorb nitrous oxide. So how does it work? Catalytic Clothing uses the power of a
photocatalyst to break down pollutants. Powered by light, "When the light shines on
the photocatalyst, the electrons in the material are rearranged and they become
more reactive. These electrons are then able to react with the water in the air and
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break it apart into 2 radicals. A radical is an extremely reactive molecule. These
radicals then react with the pollutants and cause them to break down into nonharmful chemicals." Their 2011 Field of Jeans exhibit demonstrated the ideas
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Image Source: Catalytic Clothing
"Herself" may be the world's first air purifying dress: Image Source: Catalytic Clothing
So, can clothing really help mitigate climate change? I guess we will have to see but
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A fashion professor and a chemist are teaming up to create gorgeous, stylish clothing that isn’t just
eco-friendly, it’s eco-saving. The Catalytic Clothing project has created a sprayable nano particle that
can be applied to regular clothing. The particles absorb particular types of pollution and toxins from their air, rendering them into harmless compounds. As a catalyst (think back to Chem 101, people)
the nano particles can be used over and over, and thus do good wherever the wearer strolls. In order to clean the air of a mid-sized city all of the citizens would need to be wearing treated
garments. The Catalytic Clothing Project is truly crowd-sourced air cleaning. It will be really cool to
see this rather fringe, but useful, technology taken up by the likes of high-end designers, or even
mass production outlets. Just think of it: one day if someone criticizes you for wearing sweatpants,
you could snarkily reply that these sweatpants are saving the planet.
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Air-purifying Catalytic Clothing wins eco award
By Simon
7. June 2012 12:00
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Catalytic Clothing, a new eco-clothing project supported
by Ecover, has won the 2012 Conde Nast Innovation and
Design Award for ‘Sustainability’.
Catalytic Clothing was launched last July by Professor
Helen Storey and scientist Professor Tony Ryan as they
sought to discover how we could harness the surface of
our clothing to purify the air we breathe.
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The process involves photocatalysts; chemicals that
break down pollutants in the air. By adding
photocatalysts to the fabrics we wear we can neutralise
pollution as we go about our daily lives.
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As Ecover points out in its online magazine, the-splash.co.uk: "It’s like carrying your very own catalytic
converter in your pocket – except that catalytic converter is your pocket."
Photocatalysts are already being used in paint and plastics in buildings but their effect can only be felt
within 1m of the treated surface. Added to clothes, they become mobile; 40 people crossing a 1m
stretch of pavement would purify two square metres of air in just one minute!
Ecover Shower Gel 250ml
£3.75
Considering that in the EU 348,000 premature deaths are attributed to air pollution each year, Catalytic
Clothing sounds like it could be a lifesaver.
The clothing is still being developed and it might be some time for it to hit the marketplace but for now
the plan is to raise awareness.
Thanks to Ecover, maker of green household cleaning products, and the Conde Nast award, Catalytic
Clothing is now know to all BigGreenSmile fans. Spread the word.
Ecover Dishwasher Tablets
from £4.65
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