The Washington Post/Getty
In outbreaks of lethal pathogens like the Ebola virus or food-borne bacteria, health care workers and lab staff alike need the most effective antimicrobial clothing they can get. But there is a problem with today’s bug-busting suits, face masks and gloves: the active ingredient, or biocide, impregnated into their fabrics is consumed in the process of destroying the virus or bacterium – so they get less and less effective over time.
Not for much longer, perhaps. Polymer chemists led by Yang Si and Gang Sun at the University of …
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