New Clean Water Tech: The Bikini Top

By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje

In what may be the most stylish entry into clean water tech field to date, researchers have created a water-filtering bikini.

The unusual crossover between the fashion industry and the water sector features a bikini top that is capable of filtering water resources as the wearer swims.

A team of researchers from the University of California developed the technology. “The base layer of the top consists of 3D-printed elastic netting which conforms to the contours of the wearer's body — and which would be rather revealing on its own. Placed into that netting, however, are opaque inserts made from a material known as Sponge,” according to Gizmag.

“Researchers started to develop Sponge four years ago in the hopes of creating a material that could help clean oil and chemical spills, and even desalinate water,” LatinosHealth.com reported.

Sponge is created from heated sucrose, which is found in sugarcane. “The highly porous material can absorb up to 25 times its own weight and can be used up to 20 times before it needs to be replaced,” Gizmag reported. The material repels water but also absorbs harmful pollutants. “This means that it can fill up just on pollutants — up to 25 times its own weight worth of them –— without also becoming saturated with water,” the report said.

The pollutants never touch the skin of the bikini wearer. Instead, they are stored in the pores of the material. “In fact, the only way of releasing them is to heat the Sponge to at least 1,000 ºC (1,832 ºF). This can be done up to 20 times before the inserts start losing their absorbency,” the report said.

The invention took top prize at the Reshape 15 Wearable Technology gathering, a contest devoted to blending fashion with the scientific disciplines.

Image credit: Spongesuit bikini created by engineers at UC Riverside and designers at Eray Carbajo.

Illustration credit: Eray Carbajo