FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to textiles and, more particularly, to

applications of a metallized textile produced by binding a full or partial

metal or metal oxide plating to the fibers of a textile.

There are a variety of applications for which a textile with a full or

partial metal or metal oxide plating bonded to the fibers thereof would be

useful. These include:

1. Acaricide

Beds commonly are infested by tiny mites. These mites eat bacteria

and fungi that grow on epidermal scales shed by people who sleep in the

beds. Fragments of dead mites, and mite excreta, are allergens, to which

asthmatics and people with dust allergens are sensitive. It has been found

that some metals and metal oxides, notably Cu, CuO, Ag and Ag _: 0, repel

mites.

The conventional method for making textiles inhospitable to mites

is to treat the textiles with an organic acaricide such as benzyl benzoate.

For example, Bischoff et al. , in U.S. Patent No. 4,666,940, teach an

acaricide that includes benzyl benzoate and a solid powder carrier whose

particles are of a size suitable for ingestion by the mites. These acaricides

must be replaced every time the textile is laundered. Thus, Bischoff et al.

recommend using their acaricide on textiles, such as carpets and

upholstery, that are not laundered frequently. An inherently acaricidal

bedsheet would keep a bed free of mites, even after multiple launderings,

without the need to reapply acaricide to the bedsheet.

2. Bactericide and Fungicide

Some metal oxides, notably ZnO, are well known as fungicides.

Before the introduction of antibiotics to medicine, silver metal sometimes

was used as a bactericide and bacteriostat. Textiles with inherent

bactericidal and fungicidal properties have obvious applications in settings,

such as hospitals and similar institutions, where it is important to maintain

aseptic conditions.

Bactericidal agents used heretofore in textiles include complexes of

zirconyl acetate with inorganic peroxides (Welch et al. , U.S. Patent No.

4,115,422), metal cations contained in zeolite particles (Hagiwara et al.,

U.S. Patent No. 4,525,410), and quaternary ammonium salts (White et al. ,

U.S. Patent No. 4,835,019; Hill et al., U.S. Patent No. 5,024,875; Zhao

et al. , U.S. Patent No. 5,254,134). These are not totally satisfactory,

being specific to a particular textile (such as the polyamide yarn of White

et al.), or being subject to eventual loss of activity by chemical

decomposition, a process often hastened by laundering.

3. Body Axmor

Lightweight armor commonly is made of multiple layers of fibers

such as the fiber produced by E. I. DuPont de Nemours and Company

under the trademark Kevlar. It has been found that the effectiveness of

Kevlar armor is enhanced by the inclusion of ceramics such as A1,0 ₃ , in

the form of plates, or, as taught by Clausen in U.S. Patent No. 4,292,882,

in the form of particles interspersed among the Kevlar fibers. These

ceramics enhance the resistance of the armor to penetration by bullets, by

abrading and gripping the bullets. This action would be enhanced further

in armor in which the A1,0 ₃ has an even more intimate connection to the

Kevlar fibers.

The methods known in the prior art for bonding a metal or a metal

oxide to a textile generally require that the metal or its oxide be bonded

indirectly to the textile. For example, the metal may be reduced to a

powder and suspended in a binder. The binder-metal mixture then is

applied to the textile, with the binder, and not the metal, bonding to the

textile. Alternatively, the metal is reduced to a powder, an adhesive is

applied to the textile, and the metal powder is spread on the adhesive.

Examples of both such methods may be found in U.S. Patent No.

1,210,375, assigned to Decker. These methods are less than satisfactory

for the above applications, for at least two reasons. First, the carrier or

adhesive may entirely encapsulate the metal or metal oxide powder

particles, inhibiting their contact with mites, fungi, and bacteria, and

making the textile useless as an acaricide, fungicide, or bactericide.

Second, multiple launderings tends to weaken the binder or adhesive and

loosen or remove the particles.

Two notable exceptions to the general rule that metals and metal

oxides have not heretofore been bonded directly to textiles are nylon

textiles and polyester textiles, which may be plated with metals using

standard electroless plating processes for plating plastics. The specific

electroless plating methods known to the art are restricted in their

applicability to only certain plastics, however. In particular, they are not

suited to natural fibers, nor to most synthetic fibers.

There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly

advantageous to have, a textile with a full or partial metal or metal oxide

plating directly and securely bonded to the fibers thereof, for use in the

applications listed above. The scope of the present invention includes

these and other applications, which are listed below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention there is provided a process

comprising the steps of: (a) providing a metallized textile, the metallized

textile comprising: (i) a textile including fibers selected from the group

consisting of natural fibers, synthetic cellulosic fibers, regenerated

fibers, acrylic fibers, polyolefin fibers, polyurethane fibers, vinyl fibers,

and blends thereof, and (ii) a plating including materials selected from the

group consisting of metals and metal oxides, the metallized textile

characterized in that the plating is bonded directly to the fibers; and (b)

incorporating the metallized textile in an article of manufacture.

In the context of the present invention the term "textile" includes

fibers, whether natural (for example, cotton, silk, wool, and linen) or

synthetic, yarns spun from those fibers, and woven, knit, and non- woven

fabrics made of those yarns. The scope of the present invention includes

all natural fibers; and all synthetic fibers used in textile applications,

including but not limited to synthetic cellulosic fibers (i.e. , regenerated

cellulose fibers such as rayon, and cellulose derivative fibers such as

acetate fibers), regenerated protein fibers, acrylic fibers, polyolefin fibers,

polyurethane fibers, and vinyl fibers, but excluding nylon and polyester

fibers; and blends thereof.

The present invention comprises applications of the products of an

adaptation of technology used in the electroless plating of plastics,

particularly printed circuit boards made of plastic, with metals. See, for

example, Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Engineering (Jacqueline

I. Kroschwitz, editor), Wiley and Sons, 1987, vol. DC, pp 580 - 598. As

applied to textiles, this process includes two steps. The first step is the

activation of the textile by precipitating catalytic noble metal nucleation

sites on the textile. This is done by first soaking the textile in a solution

of a low-oxidation-state reductant cation, and then soaking the textile in a

solution of noble metal cations, preferably a solution of Pd ^{+ +} cations,

most preferably an acidic PdCl ₂ solution. The low-oxidation-state cation

reduces the noble metal cations to the noble metals themselves, while

being oxidized to a higher oxidation state. Preferably, the reductant cation

is one that is soluble in both the initial low oxidation state and the final

high oxidation state, for example Sn ⁺⁺ , which is oxidized to Sn ^{+ ++ +} , or

Ti ⁺⁺⁺ , which is oxidized to Ti ^{++ ++} .

The second step is the reduction, in close proximity to the activated

textile, of a metal cation whose reduction is catalyzed by a noble metal.

Examples of such cations include Cu ^{4" "} , Ag ⁺ , Zn ^{+ ÷} and Ni ^+÷ . The

reducing agents used to reduce the cations typically are molecular species,

for example, formaldehyde in the case of Cu ^{+ +} , and hydrazine hydrate in

the case of Ag ^J"r+ . Because the reducing agents are oxidized, the metal

cations are termed "oxidant cations" herein. After these oxidant cations

are plated on the textile, the metal plating may be processed further, for

example, by oxidation to the oxide. This oxidation is most conveniently

effected simply by exposing the metallized textile to air. The metallized

textiles and the oxide-plated textiles thus produced are characterized in that

their metal or metal oxide plating is bonded directly to the textile fibers.

The plating may cover substantially all of the fiber surfaces, or may cover

only part of the surfaces.

As bactericides and fungicides, the metallized textiles thus produced

have a variety of applications. They may be used to make garments, such

as socks, which inhibit infections such as athletes foot and jock itch. They

may be used to make intrinsically antiseptic bandages. They may be used

in interior furnishings, such as floor coverings including carpets, wall

coverings, curtains, and upholstered furniture: in hospitals, where they

inhibit the spread of nosocomial infections, and as interior furnishings

generally in warm, humid climates to inhibit mildew. They may be

incorporated in food storage containers to lengthen the shelf life of the

food stored therein.

Because the metallized textiles thus produced conduct electricity,

they have a variety of electrical applications that exploit their flexibility

and relatively light weight compared to fabrics woven from pure metals.

They may be used as electrodes in applications, such as medical

applications, in which flexibility, to match the contours of a patient's

body, is an advantage. Similarly, they may be used as electrodes in

lightweight batteries. They may be used as anti-static devices: for

example, in carpets, to prevent static buildup in rooms where electronic

devices sensitive to static, such as computers, are used; or in automotive

upholstery, as taught by Hatomoto et al. in U.S. Patent No. 5,009,946.

They may be used as radio frequency shields to prevent eavesdropping on

cordless telephone conversations or on stray electronic signals generally.

In this application, they are aesthetically more pleasing than the metallic

screens conventionally used for this purpose. They may be used in radar-

reflective camouflage nets.

Finally, the textiles thus produced may be used as fire retardants,

for example in fire barriers, garments, and public transportation vehicles.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention is of applications of metallized textiles

produced by binding a full or partial metallic plating to a textile.

Specifically, the various applications that comprise the present invention

employ textiles with metal and metal oxide coatings intimately and

permanently bonded to the fibers of those textiles.

The process of plating a textile with a metal or metal oxide for use

in the applications of the present invention may be better understood with

reference to the following Examples. These Examples are illustrative, and

should not be construed to restrict the scope of the present invention in any

way.

EXAMPLE 1

A dilute acidic solution of SnCl ₂ was prepared by dissolving SnCl ₂

and concentrated HC1 in water.

An dilute acidic solution of PdCl ₂ was prepared by dissolving PdCl ₂

and concentrated HC1, and water.

An 8" x 3" cotton swatch was activated as follows:

Soak in a bath of the SnCl ₂ solution.

Soak in a bath of the PdCl ₂ solution.

A dilute basic CuS0 ₄ solution was prepared by dissolving CuS0 ₄

and NaOH (in appro-ximately equal weight proportions), a chelating agent,

and polyethylene glycol in water.

The activated cotton swatch and formaldehyde were added to the

CuS0 solution under a pure oxygen atmosphere. After between 2

minutes and 10 minutes, the cotton swatch was removed.

The palladium deposited on the cotton swatch in the activation step

catalyzed the reduction of the Cu ⁺⁺ by the formaldehyde, providing a

layer of copper tightly and intimately bonded to the fibers of the cotton

swatch. The swatch, which initially was white in color, now was the color

of copper metal, while retaining the flexibility and physical characteristics

of the original fabric. The metallic copper color remained unchanged after

several launderings.

EXAMPLE 2

An 8" x 3" cotton swatch was activated as in Example 1. A dilute

solution of AgN0 ₃ was prepared by dissolving AgN0 ₃ , concentrated

NH ₄ OH, and glacial acetic acid in water. The volume ratio of

concentrated NH ₄ OH to glacial acetic acid was about 1.7 to 1.

The activated cotton swatch, and dilute aqueous hydrazine hydrate,

were added to the AgN0 ₃ solution. After 10 minutes, the cotton swatch

was removed.

The palladium deposited on the cotton swatch in the activation step

catalyzed the reduction of the Ag ⁺ by the hydrazine hydrate, providing a

partially oxidized layer of silver tightly and intimately bonded to the fibers

of the cotton swatch. The swatch, which initially was white in color, now

was dark gray. The dark gray color remained unchanged after several

launderings.

While the invention has been described with respect to a limited

number of embodiments, it will be appreciated that many variations,

modifications and other applications of the invention may be made.