Understanding Stain-surface Interactions And Mechanisms For Removal

The project will involve the study of stains on fabrics and the factors influencing their removal. Some commons household materials, for example tea, can cause stains on fabric that are very persistent and hard to remove using existing wash formulations. An additional complication in this work is that although these stains can be readily removed when fresh, under certain conditions they age to form persistent and intractable deposits that are much more challenging. This project will study the interactions of molecules present in these stains with the fabric substrate, and look at the effects of other species, for example metal ions, upon their behaviour and persistence. The study will include the use of non-contact spectroscopic methods for the analysis of the materials and extend this to the study of fabrics under wash conditions.