California: Want to help in cleaning the polluted water? Its not hard as you might be thinking. Its just easy as slipping on this 3-D bikini!
Researchers have invented a new 3D-printed swimsuit capable of cleaning up oil spills and desalinating water while people swim.
A swimsuit which is created by University of California, Riverside engineers is the key components of the material that won an international design competition for its unique ability to clean water as a person wears it and swims.
This reusable material, which they named Sponge, is derived from heated sucrose, a form of sugar. It has a highly porous structure that is super hyphobic, which means it repels water, but also absorbs harmful contaminants.
“This is a super material that is not harmful to the environment and very cost effective to produce,” said Mihri Ozkan, an electrical engineering professor at UC Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering.
Ozkan, along with fellow engineering professor, Cengiz Ozkan, current PhD student, Daisy Patino, and Hamed Bay, began developing the material about four years ago for applications such as cleaning up oil or chemical spills or desalinating water.
They also believe the unique water-repelling nature of the material could be used in paint applied to airplanes and satellites or as part of electromagnetic shields for such things as unmanned aerial vehicles.
The team’s design molds the Sponge material into the shape of a bikini and encapsulates it in a net-like cage made of 3D-printed elastomer that forms to the body. The material could also be incorporated into such things as bathing suits, swimming caps and wet suits.
