This project being funded by the ChancellorÕs Innovation Fund is looking at a low cost methods for improving the UV protection of textiles.  What this technology really does is it provides a means to use more types of fabrics outdoors.  The past year IÕve been in the tech program which is over in the Poole College of Management.  And through that program we develop different ideas of how to commercialize the atomic layer of (unintelligible) technology.  And one of the ideas that garnered a lot of interest was how to use the atomic layer of (unintelligible) technology to protect textiles from sunlight damage.  What weÕre doing is weÕre applying a nano scale finish.  And that nano scale finish impedes the UV light from attacking the chemical bonds that are in a textile material or a polymer material.  What happens is a UV light will break those bonds and cause you know when your fabric decolors when itÕs been stuck out in the sun for long periods of time or it begins to crack or fade, thatÕs the UV light damage.  The sunlight.  Our coatings would prevent against that.  A lot of materials that are used outdoors include polyesters or nylons.  And what we now would be able to use are things like cotton or polypropheline much cheaper potentially more green materials.  Well the interesting thing about polymers is their surface structures is really important to how they perform in a wide variety of applications.  So, things like textiles that you wear, the way that they work, or the way that they function depends a lot on their properties of their surface.  So, what weÕre interested in doing is modifying their surface structure of that material to make it perform in a way that it wouldnÕt naturally perform.  We use a vapor based process to produce nano coatings on textiles.  So for example, we can use this vapor based process to produce nano coatings on each individual fiber thatÕs within the fabric.  ThatÕs again nano scale.  ItÕs very lightweight.  And itÕs a low cost method for producing these UV coatings.  Currently thereÕs not an option on the market which gives you long protection at a reasonable cost.  So, what we see is this technology as a potential to offer consumers a more low cost solution with long UV protection.  The ChancellorÕs Innovation Fund is designed to help us understand the basics.  The basics are important for understanding this particular application of UV protection.  But really what it is designed to do is help us understand so we can push it beyond that application to new and more versatile things that we could use the material for.  You know UV protection of polymers and textile materials is not a new problem.  ThereÕs a lot of other outside applications such as in energy or solar cells.  ThereÕs a lot of polymers in those materials.  So, finding a way to solve this problem for textile materials has other applications for energy or space applications