About the Laundromat Index

Nano-Metals

Nano-materials can be made from many substances. Nano-metals are just one variety of such and nano-metals, like nano-copper or nano-silver are currently among the most researched nano-materials. Fibres like cotton can be coated with such nano-things to produce new and unusual properties of the underlying fibres. In a simplified interpretation, the nano-metals are like their much larger “macro”-relatives but with a vastly larger surface area.

So, what that means is that the (mostly known) surface properties and effects of the materials are more pronounced because of the immense increase of surface area relative to mass by their novel nano-size. Of course, all materials’ surfaces are different from the mass of their interior. Surface property is an effect you are probably employing every day without knowing, like in detergents.

Surface Properties

The properties of some materials are highly dependent on the substrate. For example, a concentrated solution of “liquid soap” is just a viscous fluid in a bottle. But when applied to water, it spreads out into a thin film that changes the surface properties of the water and helps to lift off other materials from a textile in the laundry. It provides a connecting interface between the water and the material to be cleaned, like your hands or the laundry.

Depending on other conditions like temperature, water hardness and kind of material to be cleaned, specifics may vary but the same interfacing principle is valid for all. The novel fiber coverings of the nano-material type still make use of that common “thread.” What’s new and different is their presence on the surface of the fibers (or textiles) rather than being a component of the mixture in a bottle of liquid detergent or soap. And that novel application of nano-silver is said to allow the “bleaching” of your coffee or whatever stains into oblivion, entirely without the old-fashioned procedure. The nano-metal coating acts as a catalyst for the stain’s breakdown upon exposure to sunlight.

Of course, the surface properties of metals like silver have been known already for millennia, at least intuitively. For example, the use of silver-containing coinage is well documented for a few thousand years. Perhaps it was not only the cost of mining and coining that created their value but also their bactericidal properties from their silver-rich surface. In fact, these properties of silver salt solutions are still being used in hospitals to this day. The same effect also made silver bearing coins a medium that allowed safe transfer of value across the regions without propagating diseases.  In contrast, modern paper currency, even when treated with bactericidal agents does not provide the same level of protection in that aspect.