Patent Application
20080245395
The invention herein pertains to antimicrobial compositions and particularly pertains to antimicrobial gels for use in eradicating various molds, mildews and bacteria inside homes, buildings, on construction materials and on outside structures.
Various fungi are common in many warmer areas of the United States and other countries. Many fungi flourish both inside and outside buildings and may occur on floors, ceilings and walls. Moreover, bacteria exists practically everywhere. Killing and removing microbes can be hazardous to building inhabitants and requires extensive, specialized cleaning and labor. It is common practice to clean and remove various microbes by utilizing sodium hypochlorite solutions, alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride solutions, alcohol solutions and hydrogen peroxide. These solutions are generally thin, watery mixtures which can be detrimental to plants, soil and water resources when used outdoors and when used indoors, can be hazardous to the health of the inhabitants through contact with the skin, hair or eyes. Also, when removing microbes from inside a building, damage to floors, carpets, furniture, etc. often occurs if extreme precautions are not taken.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,641 teaches a thickened aqueous cleaning solution containing sodium hypochlorite, a suspended particulate abrasive and an aluminum oxide thickener. However, upon standing the particulate abrasive will often settle, becoming hard and thus requiring substantial agitation and mixing before use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,731,276 provides an improved thickened cleaning solution using aluminum oxide without a particulate abrasive to better maintain its flow characteristics. U.S. Pat. No. 5,055,219 teaches a viscoelastic cleaning solution utilizing a quaternary ammonium compound, an organic counterion mixture and a sodium hypochlorite. Another cleaning solution is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,467.
While these references teach thickened cleaning solutions which may contain sodium hypochlorite or other active ingredients, they do not provide the desired properties for removing microbes on vertical surfaces and ceilings.
Also, prior thickened aqueous solutions used in conjunction with halogen compounds demonstrate reduced viscosity upon aging and lessening of the effectiveness of the halogen compounds due to internal chemical reactions.
Additionally, prior aqueous cleaning or antimicrobial compositions are not suitable for all applications. For example when applying certain of the compositions to a ceiling for antimicrobial purposes, the viscosity is too low to avoid dripping and running.
Thus, with the disadvantages and problems associated with prior art antimicrobial compositions and other cleaning solutions, the present invention was conceived and one of its objectives is to provide antimicrobial gels which allow for easy viscosity adjustment by the user, depending on the particular substrate encountered.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a gel precursor that is converted to an antimicrobial gel upon addition of the antimicrobial component.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide antimicrobial gels which possess the often needed effectiveness and desired non-dripping, non-splashing characteristics.
It is still another objective of the present invention to provide antimicrobial gels which can be safely adjusted to proper viscosity by relatively unskilled personnel for use on ceilings, walls, floors or porous surfaces as needed.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide microbial removal processes which cause minimal environmental damage when used outdoors.
It is yet a further objective of the present invention to provide antimicrobial gels which may include various disinfectants.
Other objectives and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as a more detailed description is set forth below.
The aforesaid and other objectives are realized by providing antimicrobial compositions, specifically antimicrobial gels whereby the viscosity can be easily adjusted prior to application to a particular substrate. For example, an antimicrobial gel can be prepared by adding a six percent (6%) by weight sodium hypochlorite solution at a ratio of one (1) part sodium hypochlorite solution to three (3) parts of gel, resulting in an effective antimicrobial gel of 1.5% by weight sodium hypochlorite. This antimicrobial gel can be applied to a room ceiling without dripping or splashing occurring. The same antimicrobial gel without viscosity adjustment can be used to treat mold, mildew or bacteria infested vertical surfaces such as walls. To use the gel for a porous floor substrate such as a cement patio or walkway, the gel can be diluted by adding water in the ratio of four (4) parts of antimicrobial gel to one-two (1-2) parts of water for sufficient penetration and microbe eradication.
Other suitable materials for application include construction materials such as lumber, wood panels, cement blocks, stone, stone blocks, stone veneer and bricks.
After the microbes are treated, an abrasive pad or sandpaper can be used to scour the treated surface. Thereafter the surface can be cleaned with a mop or wiped, and the surface thereafter thoroughly rinsed with water. Wood or painted surfaces may require an additional application of conventional paint, stain or varnish as suited.
Specifications, characteristics and sources of various conventional ingredients used in examples herein are described below:
For clarity, the following nomenclature applies: “Antimicrobial gel” and “antimicrobial composition” shall refer to the combination of the gel component and antimicrobial component. “Gel”, as used herein, refers to the gel component of the antimicrobial gel, without the antimicrobial component. “Antimicrobial” or “antimicrobial component” pertains generically to the antifungal or bactericidal components of sodium hypochlorite, alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, propyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, without the gel component. Alternatively, “antimicrobial” generically describes a substance's bacteriostatic, bactericidal, fungistatic or fungicidal property. “Microbes” include fungi and bacteria.
For a better understanding of the invention, the antimicrobial gels are prepared in the following examples to provide the desired viscosity for cleaning a particular substrate. Example 7 discloses a gel precursor which is mixed with the antimicrobial component to form an antimicrobial gel. The preferred form of the invention is set forth in Example 1 below:
In a suitable container under constant mixing the following ingredients are added sequentially to prepare the gel component:
The antimicrobial gel is formed by blending three (3) parts of the gel component with one (1) part of the antimicrobial component, by weight. The resulting 1.5% by weight sodium hypochlorite antimicrobial gel is gently agitated to achieve a homogeneous antimicrobial gel.
The gel component is prepared under constant mixing by adding the following ingredients sequentially:
The antimicrobial gel is formed by blending three (3) parts of the gel component with one (1) part of the antimicrobial component, by weight. The resulting 1.5% by weight sodium hypochlorite antimicrobial-gel is gently agitated to achieve a homogeneous antimicrobial gel.
The gel component is prepared under constant mixing by adding the following ingredients sequentially:
The antimicrobial gel is formed by blending three (3) parts of the gel component with one (1) part of the antimicrobial component, by weight. The resulting 1.5% by weight sodium hypochlorite antimicrobial gel is gently agitated to achieve a homogeneous antimicrobial gel.
The gel component is prepared under constant mixing by adding the following ingredients:
The antimicrobial gel is formed by blending three (3) parts of the gel component with one (1) part of the antimicrobial component, by weight. The resulting 1.5% by weight sodium hypochlorite antimicrobial gel is gently agitated to achieve a homogeneous antimicrobial gel.
The gel component is prepared under constant mixing by adding the following ingredients sequentially:
The antimicrobial gel is formed by blending three (3) parts of the gel component with one (1) part of the antimicrobial component, by weight. The resulting 1.5% by weight sodium hypochlorite antimicrobial gel is gently agitated to achieve a homogeneous antimicrobial gel.
The gel component is prepared under constant mixing by adding the following ingredients sequentially:
The antimicrobial gel is formed by blending three (3) parts of the gel component with one (1) part of the antimicrobial component, by weight. The resulting 1.5% by weight sodium hypochlorite antimicrobial gel is gently agitated to achieve a homogeneous antimicrobial gel.
The gel precursor component is prepared under constant mixing by adding the following ingredients sequentially:
The antimicrobial gel is formed by blending three (3) parts of the gel precursor component with one (1) part of the antimicrobial component, by weight. The resulting 1.5% by weight sodium hypochlorite antimicrobial mixture thickens into an antimicrobial gel upon gentle agitation due to the pH of the antimicrobial component.
The gel component is prepared under constant mixing by adding the following ingredients sequentially:
The antimicrobial gel is formed by blending three (3) parts of the gel component with one (1) part of the antimicrobial component, by weight. The resulting 1.5% by weight sodium hypochlorite antimicrobial gel is gently agitated to achieve a homogeneous antimicrobial gel.
The gel component is prepared under constant mixing by adding the following ingredients sequentially:
The antimicrobial gel is formed by blending three (3) parts of the gel component with one (1) part of the bactericidal component, by weight. The mixture is gently agitated to achieve a homogeneous antimicrobial gel.
The gel component is prepared under constant mixing by adding the following ingredients sequentially:
The antimicrobial gel is formed by blending three (3) parts of the gel component with one (1) part of the bactericidal component, by weight. The mixture is gently agitated to achieve a homogeneous antimicrobial gel.
The antimicrobial gels above are preferably diluted with water at a ratio of four (4) parts of gel to one-to-two (1-2) parts of water to thin or lower the viscosity of the antimicrobial gel for use in treating porous floor substrates such as a cement patios, walkways or driveways. More water can be added to provide a less viscous antimicrobial gel.
Although Examples 1-8 employ the preferred 6% by weight sodium hypochlorite solution, other strengths could be used to form antimicrobial compositions which range from 0.05% to 6.0% by weight sodium hypochlorite. It should also be understood that the sodium hypochlorite could be an alkali metal compound, alkali earth metal compound or a combination thereof. However, as shown in Examples 9 and 10 respectively, alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride (with alkyl groups of 67% C12, 25% C14, 7% C16, 1% C8-C10-C18 and 50% C14, 40% C12, 10% C16) or ethyl alcohol, (preferably 95%) may provide the antimicrobial (bactericidal) properties, instead of sodium hypochlorite. Moreover, propyl alcohol or hydrogen peroxide, respectively at approximately 30% and 10% by weight of antimicrobial composition, may also provide the antimicrobial component of the antimicrobial composition.
Suitable “thickeners” include cellulosic polymers, poly-acrylic polymers or copolymers, polyamide polymers or copolymers, alkali swellable latexes, high temperature alkali swellable latexes, clay or modified clay, natural gums, sodium silicate or any combination thereof. The thickened gel may also contain other desirable functional additives such as dispersants, agents which prolong the activity of the antimicrobial component, cleaners, pH adjusting agents, electrolytes, buffers, fragrance, abrasives, de-foaming agents, anti-foaming agents or any mixtures thereof. These functional additives should be stable in sodium hypochlorite, alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, propyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol or hydrogen peroxide depending on the antimicrobial utilized.
While various examples of are shown to form two-component antimicrobial compositions, in Example 7 a gel precursor component and a caustic antimicrobial component (sodium hypochlorite) are combined to form the antimicrobial composition. Alternatively, a three-component composition could be formed by combining a gel precursor (such as in Example 7), an antimicrobial component (such as dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride, propyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol or hydrogen peroxide) and a caustic (such as sodium hydroxide). The antimicrobial composition, whether formed from a gel precursor, can be used at a job site such as a house with mildew and mold both on the interior and on out of door locations. For ceiling and wall applications the antimicrobial gel has sufficient viscosity for direct application using a putty knife or other tool. Other methods of application include brushes, rollers, pads or air-assisted airless guns. Once applied, the eradication of the mold and mildew can be observed after a few minutes. Alternatively the antimicrobial gel treatment is considered finished when the antimicrobial component diminishes effectiveness. Next, the residue can be wiped off with a cloth. Thereafter a water rinse is applied, such as by using a wet cloth. Once the surface dries the treated area can be refinished with paint or other coatings as desired.
The same antimicrobial gels can likewise by used for floors, shelves or the like, but the viscosity is preferably reduced for ease in application and greater penetration. To reduce the viscosity, 3 parts of the antimicrobial gel are blended with 1-2 parts of water.
The antimicrobial gels may also be applied to construction materials such as lumber, wood panels, cement blocks, stone, stone blocks, stone veneer and bricks. Those treated construction materials may then be stored for later use.
The illustrations and examples provided herein are for explanatory purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims.
