Nanodiamond Additives for Cold Water Cleaning

Cleaning clothes directly, or indirectly, affects everyone on the planet, making it hugely important in terms of energy and resource usage. Traditional methods of washing rely on high temperature, mechanical action and extended washing times - sometimes a tremendously social activity in the right environment, but one that we have come to realise has a negative impact in the way precious resources such as water, energy and even our time are used. An estimated 80% of the energy is used to heat water in a domestic wash and it is suggested that reducing a typical laundry cycle from 40 degrees C by 10 degrees reduces that energy usage by up to 40%. The technical challenge faced in a deceptively simple domestic wash is enormous. An average load contains 40 g of soil; heavily soiled washing may contain over 120 g, much of which comes from contact with our bodies. This soil and dirt is a complex, often poorly understood mixture of proteins, starches, carbohydrates, lipids, fatty acids, salts, clays and pigments, all associated with a wide range of fabrics. An equally complex mixture of detergents, enzymes and other chemicals that comprise a modern laundry agent are used to tackle the challenge of removing the soil and dirt from laundry fabric and keep it from re-entering cleaned clothes. In that process crystallized fat and lipid are the most difficult to remove at the low temperatures sought by the need to reduce energy and resource usage. It is precisely this challenge that we seek to address in our proposed research.Diamond and related synthetic carbon materials appear an unlikely choice of additive to the washing process, but they possess such special properties in terms of our ability to control very precisely their shape, size and surface chemistry that in fact they offer a fantastic opportunity. The materials we shall make are expected to interact with both the detergents used in the wash process and the unsolved problem of crystallized lipid particles on fabric in a unique way. Firstly they will make structures resembling small cells with the detergents and secondly these will aid the delivery of the nanodiamonds to the crystallized lipid adhering to the fabric. We shall use a combination of methods to study how the fluorescent nanodiamonds interact with the surface and then allow the lipid to be brought into solution. These include: a very sensitive method for measuring the amount of material adhering to a variety of test surfaces of differing underlying roughness and a means of directly observing the nanodiamond particles as they move across the 'soiled fabric' and lift off the grease. In this one-year, proof-of-principle project we shall develop both the new materials and methodologies to the point where we are able to say to what extent the novel additives bring about cleaning of the surfaces in a way that wasn't previously possible.In summary we believe that this innovation will be the step forward required to enable the removal of crystallized fat and lipid at much lower temperatures than currently possible. This has the potential to bring huge savings of energy and other resources to an essential, everyday task.

WHO WILL BENEFIT? The immediate private sector beneficiary of the proposed research is P&G, the co-funder of the Cold Water Cleaning programme. Within this programme academic consortia are tackling the multifactorial challenge of removing fat and dirt at temperatures of 10-30 degrees from chemical, engineering and biological science perspectives. The impact of our proposal is two-fold. Firstly by innovating a solution to the problem of removing crystallized lipid from fabrics and surfaces at low temperatures we shall make a huge impact on energy saving in which laundry cleaning takes place. Secondly this innovation will enable significant economic and social change to the benefit of both domestic and commercial users and ultimately the global environment to take place. Cleaning clothes is such an integral part of daily life that it takes prime place in many societies - even within the last century in this country the weekly wash shaped the working week for millions of women. The environmental and resource consequences remain enormous and hence reducing that the major energy cost (heating water) will dramatically impact both these factors. Ultimately, the benefits of this research will not only accrue to the estimated 1.6 billion women globally who carry out the task of washing clothes on a regular basis, but potentially the population as a whole if energy use can be reduced. HOW WILL THEY BENEFIT? Experts producing the complex mixture of detergents, enzymes and other chemicals in a modern laundry agent view the most difficult component to remove at the low temperatures desired as crystallized fat and lipid. Removing the soil and dirt from fabric and keeping it from re-entering cleaned clothes during a single wash cycle is an ongoing challenge for detergent manufacturers, the laundry appliance industry and ultimately the consumer. At the heart of this challenge are several interconnected scientific problems and in this proposed work we have innovated solutions to the problem of bringing crystallized lipid to a critical point where cleaning is able to take place. Academic and public sector scientists will also benefit from both generic and specific technical developments underpinned by fundamental insight into physico-chemical processes associated with the novel composites mediating lipid removal from surfaces. These physical chemistry observations will allow development of alternatives to nanodiamond. The ability to enhance removal of lipid from surfaces at low temperatures has the capacity to change engineering, petroleum discovery, and lubricant fields as well as biological and medical applications. In addition, this work will contribute to both local (AWM Science City supported) initiatives in Biomaterials and Sensor Development alongside opportunities for development of Nanodiamond materials on the European and Global stage. WHAT WILL BE DONE TO ENSURE THEY BENEFIT? The results of this project will feed into the range of approaches to tackle the science leading to a step-change in solving a global problem. Quarterly meetings with the project co-sponsor P&G will enable progress to be reviewed and opportunities for rapid development of IP to be taken by all stakeholders. The other members of the CWC consortium will benefit from early notification of results as part of this process and at key points in the lifetime of the overall CWC programme (first review summer 2010). The broader scientific impact of the innovation within this proof-of-concept work requires the development of a detailed Exploitation Plan covering several areas and approaches. This will be carried out through consultation with P&G, Warwick Ventures and Aston TTO enabling protection of developing IP and know-how. Academic communication and publication of the research outputs will focus on a high impact multidisciplinary conference and journals to enable academic and public sector scientists to rapidly benefit.