Antistatic breathable nonwoven laminate having improved barrier properties
AssigneeKimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
InventorsAli Yahiaoui, Anthony Steve Spencer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A nonwoven web or laminate having improved antistatic properties and alcohol repellency properties is generally provided, along with methods of making the same. The method includes forming a nonwoven web from a thermoplastic mixture of an antistatic agent and a thermoplastic polymer. A high energy treatment is applied to a surface of the nonwoven web. Then, a fluorinated agent is grafted to the surface of the spunbond web utilizing a monomer deposition process. The monomer deposition process can generally include evaporating a liquid fluorinated agent in a vacuum chamber, followed by depositing the fluorinated agent gas on a surface of the spunbond web, and exposing the surface to radiation.
Claims22
A method of improving the antistatic properties of a nonwoven web without adversely affecting the alcohol repellant properties of the web, the method comprising:
- combining an antistatic agent with a thermoplastic polymer to form a thermoplastic mixture;
- forming a spunbond web of continuous filaments from the thermoplastic mixture;
- applying a high energy treatment to a surface of the spunbond web;
- thereafter, grafting a fluorinated agent to the surface of the spunbond web utilizing a monomer deposition process.
A spunbond web having improved antistatic properties and alcohol repellency properties, the spunbond web comprising:
- continuous fibers comprising a thermoplastic polymeric material and an integral antistatic agent, wherein a fluorinated agent is grafted to the continuous fibers, and wherein the spunbond web has an alcohol repellency of greater than 70%, a surface resistivity of less than about 1010 ohms per square, a hydrostatic head value of greater than 30 mbars, and passes a 50% static decay test.
A method of improving the antistatic properties of a nonwoven laminate without adversely affecting the alcohol repellency of the web, the method comprising:
- combining an antistatic agent, a viscosity modifying polymer, and a thermoplastic polymer to form a thermoplastic mixture, wherein the antistatic agent is provided in a high melt flow carrier resin comprising a homopolymer of polypropylene, and wherein the viscosity modifying polymer comprises a polybutene ethylene copolymer;
- forming a spunbond web of continuous filaments from the thermoplastic mixture;
- laminating the spunbond web to a meltblown web to form the nonwoven laminate, wherein the spunbond web defines an exposed surface of the nonwoven laminate;
- thereafter, applying a plasma treatment to the exposed surface;
- thereafter, grafting a fluorinated agent to the surface of the spunbond web utilizing a monomer deposition process comprising the steps of comprises the steps of evaporating a liquid fluorinated agent in a vacuum chamber to form a fluorinated agent gas;
- depositing the fluorinated agent gas on a surface of the spunbond web;
- and polymerizing the fluorinated agent on the surface of the spunbond web by exposure to electron beam radiation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.