Smart fabrics detect and repel pathogens to prevent hospital infections

In healthcare settings, textiles like bed sheets, scrubs and curtains can harbor dangerous pathogens, facilitating the spread of infections among patients and staff. Despite advances in antimicrobial fabrics, controlling the transmission of bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms via hospital textiles remains an ongoing challenge. Previous approaches have focused on either repelling pathogens or killing them on contact, but integrating both capabilities along with a detection mechanism has proven elusive.