Aqueous Delivery System for Low Surface Energy Structures
AssigneeW. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
InventorsDonald T. Freese, Mark D. Edmundson
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Abstract
An aqueous delivery system is described including at least one surfactant and at least one water insoluble wetting agent. Further described are low surface energy substrates, such as microporous polytetrafluoroethylene, coated with such an aqueous solution so as to impart a change in at least one surface characteristic compared to the surface characteristics of the uncoated low surface energy substrate.
Claims25
An aqueous mixture comprising
- at least one water insoluble alcohol,
- at least one surfactant,
- inorganic particles, and
- optionally a dispersant,
- such that said aqueous mixture forms a fluid dispersion with said inorganic particles that wets a hydrophobic microporous membrane sufficiently to uniformly fill at least a portion of the pores though the thickness of said microporous membrane.
An aqueous mixture comprising
- at least one water insoluble alcohol,
- at least one surfactant,
- inorganic particles, and
- optionally a dispersant,
- such that said mixture forms a fluid dispersion with said inorganic particles that wets an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene membrane sufficiently to uniformly fill at least a portion of the pores through the thickness of the expanded polytetrafluoroethylene membrane.
An article comprising:
- a microporous structure;
- and
- an inorganic particle that fills the pores of said microporous structure, wherein said article further comprises at least one surfactant in an amount of up to about 15% by weight of the article and at least one water-insoluble alcohol having a C5-C10 linear backbone in an amount of about 30% by weight of the aqueous mixture.
A method of filling a microporous low surface energy substrate comprising:
- providing an aqueous mixture comprising at least one water insoluble alcohol, at least one surfactant, inorganic particles, and optionally a dispersant;
- and
- applying the aqueous mixture to the surface of the microporous low surface energy substrate.
A method of filling a microporous low surface energy substrate comprising:
- providing an aqueous mixture comprising at least one water insoluble alcohol, at least one surfactant, inorganic particles, and optionally a dispersant;
- applying mechanical energy to said aqueous mixture;
- applying the aqueous mixture to the surface of the microporous low surface energy substrate.
A method of filling a microporous low surface energy substrate comprising:
- providing an aqueous mixture comprising at least one water insoluble alcohol, at least one surfactant, inorganic particles, and optionally a dispersant;
- applying mechanical energy to said aqueous mixture;
- applying the aqueous mixture to the surface of the microporous low surface energy substrate;
- heating the material to temperatures between 35 and 320 degrees Centigrade for a period of time.
An article comprising
- a low surface energy microporous material;
- and
- inorganic particles that uniformly fill at least a portion of the pores of said microporous material, said article comprising up to 10% by weight surfactant based on the total weight of the article.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.