Methods of manufacturing a high friction composite material for footwear

Abstract

The present invention provides a method of producing the composite comprising: a) melt blending the matrix with the fibers to produce a melted composite, b) injecting the melted composite into a mold and allowing the melted composite to solidify and, c) removing at least a portion of the outermost layer of a composite such that the fibers protrude from the surface of the composite. Also provided is composite produced by the methods of the invention comprising soft and hard fibers embedded in a soft rubber-like matrix, wherein the fibers protrude from the composite's surface. In specific embodiments, the composite comprises carbon fibers and poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole) (PBO) fibers in a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) matrix, wherein the fibers protrude from the composite's surface. Slip-resistant product comprising the composite are also provided.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.