Now wear clothing that kills bacteria, conducts electricity, captures harmful gas, wards off malaria and weaves transistors into shirts and dresses. Researchers at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY say that they are capable of creating clothing out of cotton, which can do all this. Juan Hinestroza, Associate Professor of Fibre Science, who directs the Textiles Nanotechnology Laboratory at Cornel says that cotton is one of the most fascinating and misunderstood materials. He says that we can control cellulose-based materials one atom at a time.

Students, led by Prof Hinestroza, have turned cotton fibres into electronic components, such as transistors and thermistors. This means, instead of adding electronics to fabrics, the fabric is converted into an electronic component. The group also added conformal coatings of gold nano-particles and semi-conductive and conductive polymers to tailor the behaviour of natural cotton fibres. Prof Hinestroza explained that the layers are so thin that flexibility of the cotton fibres is always preserved.

A dress was created by Abbey Liebman using conductive cotton threads capable of charging an iPhone. With ultrathin solar panels for trim and a USB charger tucked into the waist, the garment captured enough sunshine to charge cell phones and other handheld devices, allowing the wearer to stay plugged in.

Synthesising nano-particles and attaching them to cotton, besides creating colour on fibre surfaces without the use of dyes, allows the new surfaces to efficiently kill 99.9 per cent of bacteria. This could ward off colds, flu and other diseases, state the researchers.