Bacteria-killing nanofibres could make clothes that stop disease

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 …