Method to incorporate particles in natural fibers and materials
AssigneeCocona, Inc.
InventorsGregory W. Haggquist, Rachel Vinson, Devin Muldoon
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Abstract
Embodiments of the present invention relate to materials containing performance-enhancing particles. In particular, but not by way of limitation, the invention is related to mechanically attaching a performance-enhancing particle to various substrates including, but not limited to, natural materials such as cotton, wool, and down.
Claims21
A method for attaching an active particle to a substrate, the method comprising:
- a. dispersing a plurality of polymer-chain-coupled particles in a solvent, wherein
- i. each polymer-chain-coupled particle comprises at least one polymer chain and an active particle with a diameter of 0.2 μm-50 μm, and
- ii. the solvent relaxes the at least one polymer chain;
- b. adding a substrate to the organic solvent to create a mixture, wherein the substrate comprises a fiber;
- and
- c. adding a non-solvent to the mixture, wherein
- i. the non-solvent causes the polymer chain to collapse and mechanically bond to the substrate, and
- ii. the mechanical bond is not a chemical bond.
A method for making a functional fabric comprising the steps of:
- a. combining zeolite particles with activated polydimethylsiloxane at by-weight ratio 3:1-10:1, respectively, in a solution containing isopropyl alcohol with a pH of 4-5.5 adjusted with acetic acid to form polymer-chain-coupled particles;
- b. drying the polymer-chain-coupled particles to form a powder;
- c. combining the powder with a fabric containing natural fibers in a ratio of 1%-10% (w/w), respectively, in 95% ethanol;
- d. incubating the combination of step (c) for 5-30 minutes;
- e. adding water to the combination at a volume that is at least 3-times the volume of the 95% ethanol and incubating about 5-30 minutes;
- f. removing the ethanol and water from the fabric;
- and
- g. drying the fabric.
A system comprising a substrate and a plurality of particles, wherein each of the particles is bonded to a plurality of polymer chains, and wherein the particles are mechanically bonded to the substrate by said plurality of polymer chains.
A system comprising a natural fiber and a plurality of active particles having a porosity of greater than 10 g/m2, wherein each of the active particles is bonded to a plurality of polymer chains using silanes or siloxanes, and wherein the active particles are mechanically bonded to the natural fiber by said plurality of polymer chains.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.