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AssigneeUniversity of Louisville Research Foundation, Inc.
InventorsMahendra Sunkara, Arjun Thapa, Theodore Druffel, Edward C Tackett, Vivekanand Kumar, Lukus Guhy, Tu Nguyen
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The present development is a nanofilter, i.e. a filter material that comprises inorganic nanowires impregnated into a non-woven polymer or cloth fabric material. The nanofilter comprises a fabric infiltrated with a nanowire powder slurry selected from anatase titania (TiO2), zinc oxide (ZnO), silica, tin oxide, alumina (Al2O3), or combinations thereof. Exemplary fabrics include a non-woven polymer and a cotton fabric cloth. The nanowire powder slurry effectively produces a coating on the fabric. Optionally, the nanowires may be functionalized using nanoparticles and/or disinfecting salt particles. The infiltrated nanowires form a porous network with sub-micron scale openings and provide filtration of any airborne particles, liquid droplets and viruses including COVID 19. The nanofilter may be used in a variety of applications, such as a nanofilter respirator as described herein.
A nanofilter for filtering air or liquid comprising inorganic nanowires impregnated into a substrate, wherein (a) the inorganic nanowires comprise titania (TiO2), zinc oxide (ZnO), silica, tin oxide, alumina (Al2O3), or combinations thereof, (b) the substrate is suitable for air or liquid filtration, (c) the substrate comprises a non-woven polymer material, a non-woven fabric, or a woven cloth material, and (d) the nanowires are functionalized with disinfectant, nanoparticles, or a combination thereof.
A nanofilter for filtering air or liquid comprising inorganic nanowires impregnated into a substrate, wherein (a) the inorganic nanowires comprise titania (TiO2), zinc oxide (ZnO), silica, tin oxide, alumina (Al2O3), or combinations thereof, (b) the substrate is suitable for air or liquid filtration, and (c) the substrate comprises a polypropylene melt-blown non-woven material, a polyester non-woven material, a polyester polycarbonate nonwoven material, a melt-blown non-woven filtration media material, a cotton fabric, a cotton twill fabric, a tightly woven linen fabric, a cotton interlock fabric, or a combination thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.