Paper That Needs 700° C to Burn

Titanium dioxide or titanium white fibers, used to produce that tough material that won't burn, being resistant to bacteria and which can be written on - are now closer to commercialization. A company which transforms the newest technologies in profitable business now owns the license for this groundbreaking material.

First things published about this material were in 2006 in the Journal of Physical Chemistry when for the first time the researchers showed that this material can be cut, folded as any other texture.

Using a hydrothermal heating process for creating longer nanofibers, they finally obtained free-standing membranes. The material, very similar in appearance with the paper, is multifunctional and can be used for a variety of applications from chemical and water filtration, solar cells, drug delivery and non-woven textiles stable at very high temperature. "It is unprecedented to have such a pure fiber," declared James Throckmorton, president of Intellectual Property Partners LLC.

"In addition to withstanding extreme temperatures, titanium-dioxide-based nanowires can be used in concentrated, strong chemical acids and bases. We're excited to offer this patent-pending technology to a company that can bring it to market."

The titanium white nanowires have a diameter of 60 nanometers and are up to 40 millimeters long, being also very thin considering that a nonemeter equals one billionth of meter. When first assembled in free standing "sheets", researchers created tubes, bowls and cups.

Resembling paper, this material can be used to make products from reusable bacteria filters to flame-retardant wallpaper that automatically decomposes airborne toxins. It can also be used to make rewritable, erasable, heat-resistant billboards. "The starting materials are simple, non-toxic and inexpensive," says Dr Z Ryan Tian, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the university.

Now, being so close to being commercialized on various markets, these fibers will certainly find more and more applications in the real life due to their extraordinary resistance to very harsh conditions.