The material absorbs up to 25 times its own weight.
By Sreejith Vallikunnu
A group of researchers at the University of California riverside have designed a 3D printed bikini that repels water while absorbing polluting material.
Researchers have created a re-usable material, called Sponge, the development of which began four years ago, is a highly porous carbon material that is light and flexible.
The material was created by Mihri Ozkan, an electrical engineering professor at UC Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering, along with her husband and fellow engineering professor, Cengiz Ozkan, and two PhD students, Daisy Patino and Hamed Bay.
The idea to incorporate the material into wearable technology, such as the swimsuit, came from Pinar Guvenc, Inanc Eray and Gonzalo Carbajo, partners of Eray Carbajo, an architecture and design firm based in New York City and Istanbul.
The team’s design moulds 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. According to a press release by the University, “The material could also be incorporated into such things as bathing suits, swimming caps and wet suits”.
Their design won first place at the ‘Reshape 15 wearable technology competition’. It also won an international design competition for its ability to clean water as a person swims.
“This is a super material that is not harmful to the environment and very cost effective to produce,” said Ozkan.
It absorbs up to 25 times its own weight, depending on the density of the material absorbed. It doesn’t release the absorbed materials unless it is heated at a temperature exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius.
The contaminants will be trapped in the inner pores of the sponge material, so they don’t touch the skin. After being used a number of times, the sponge pad can be replaced with a new pad and the old one can be recycled.
Testing at the Ozkans’ UC Riverside labs showed that the Sponge material can be reused up to 20 times without losing its absorbency, the press release stated.