Electrically conductive and dissipative polyurethane foams

A process for preparing a coated polyurethane foam comprising:

• (1) providing a polyurethane foam substrate;
• (2) applying a layer of a first material to the polyurethane foam substrate;
• (3) rinsing the coated polyurethane foam substrate with deionized water;
• (4) optionally, drying the coated polyurethane foam substrate with air;
• (5) applying a layer of a second material to the coated polyurethane foam substrate;
• (6) rinsing the coated polyurethane foam substrate with deionized water;
• (7) optionally, drying the coated polyurethane foam substrate with air;
• and
• (8) optionally, repeating the process to form additional bilayers of coatings on the polyurethane foam substrate;
• wherein (i) said first material and said second material are oppositely charged materials, (ii) one of said first material and said second material is a charged carbon allotrope which is selected from the group consisting of
• (a) carbon allotropes which are charged by direct covalent attachment to a cationic group,
• (b) carbon allotropes which are charged by direct covalent attachment to an anionic group,
• (c) non-covalent complexes of carbon allotropes with a surfactant that is cationically charged,
• (d) non-covalent complexes of carbon allotropes with a surfactant that is anionically charged,
• (e) mixtures of (a) and (c)
• and
• (f) mixtures of (b) and (d);
• (iii) the other of said first material and said second material is a charged polymer, (iv) the resultant coated polyurethane foam has a surface resistivity of less than or equal to 1012 ohms per square, and (v) the resultant coated polyurethane foam contains at least 1% by weight of the coating composition, based on 100% by weight of the coated polyurethane foam.