3-D Printed Bikini that cleans water as you swim

 

Sponge Suit 3D printed bikini with clean-tech material cleans water as you swim

 A breakthrough ‘super-material’ created by University of California Riverside engineers has the ability to repel water while safely absorbing and storing the toxins within, and has been incorporated into a 3D printed bikini that will allow wearers to clean our oceans as they swim. The recyclable, economically sustainable and intelligently manufactured material, known as Sponge, won first place in the Reshape 2015 international design competition, and is one of the most promising forays into eco-conscious wearable technology. 

 Created by Mihri  Ozkan, electrical engineering professor at UC Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering,Cengiz Ozkan, her husband and fellow engineering professor, Daisy Patino, and Hamed Bay, Sponge is a highly porous and super hydrophobic material derived from heated sucrose (a form of sugar). The nano-scale structure of the material allows it to absorb more than 25 times its own weight in contaminants, and does not release the absorbed materials unless it is heated at a temperature exceeding 1,000 degrees Celsius. It also traps the contaminants in the inner pores, meaning that they won’t touch the wearer’s skin, and the material can be used up to 20 times before being recycled.

“We designed a swimwear that is environmentally proactive, economically sustainable and intelligently manufactured combining cutting edge 3D printing and nano-scale clean-tech material research,” said the developers. “SpongeSuit aims to transform the swimming experience into an eco-friendly activity, by helping clean seas while swimming, one stroke at a time.”