Patent Application
20200238676
The disclosure relates to an antimicrobial melamine sheet and construction materials having the same, and more particularly to an antimicrobial melamine sheet and construction materials having the same, in which fine metal particles are included in a plate-forming melamine sheet impregnated in a base solution containing a melamine resin so as to have an improved structure for more effectively achieving an antimicrobial function.
A floor, a wall, a ceiling, and the like that makes a room of a building where people spend a lot of time in their life are made of various construction materials. For example, the floor includes flooring, linoleum, tiles, etc., and the wall includes wallpaper, an interior film or an interior sheet, etc.
Meanwhile, flooring refers to a construction material for forming a floor of an indoor space, which is generally classified into engineered flooring, fancy flooring, low pressure melamine (LPM) laminated flooring, high pressure laminated (HPL) flooring, etc. according to materials or structures. The engineered flooring generally includes a bottom plate of plywood and a top plate of hardwood, and the fancy flooring generally includes a bottom plate of plywood and a top plate of sliced veneer. The LPM laminated flooring generally includes a bottom plate of high density fiberboard (HDF) and a top plate of a base sheet, and the HPL flooring generally includes a bottom plate of plywood and a top plate of a base sheet.
In addition, the surfaces of the LPM laminated flooring and the HPL flooring have been used as coupling with a sheet shaped like a plate and impregnated into the melamine resin, i.e. a melamine sheet. The melamine resin impregnated into the melamine sheet keeps a color tone constant and highly resistant to scrape or a scratch, and therefore the melamine sheet is manufactured by impregnating and coating a base sheet with the melamine resin.
Further, according to reports, a room, for example, a living room of a building where a family spends much time has more germs than the inside of a toilet. Usually, a rag is used for cleaning the living room. It is general that a dirty rag used in cleaning the living room is washed with soap and dried naturally. Therefore, germs on the rag do not die but survive, and the floor of the living room is particularly contaminated with many germs because the floor is cleaned with the rag full of living germs.
Besides, even in a hospital or a patient's room as kind of space in a building for curing and preventing a disease, many patients die of bacterial infection or the like at home and abroad. In a case of the United States, it is known that about two million people have suffered the bacterial infection every year, and ninety to hundred thousand people die of the bacterial infection for a year. Further, death from the bacterial infection results in annual medical costs of about 4 billion dollars. This is because transmission of viruses, germs and the like source of infection is not controlled; sterilization, disinfection and the like function is not properly carried out; and the construction material for making the room of the building does not have any special antimicrobial function. Due to global climatic warming, increasing overseas trips, increasing distribution, aging population, etc., the number of deaths such bacterial infection is expected to increase.
Accordingly, the related art has proposed flooring or the like having antimicrobial components as a construction material to be used in the floor, etc. for forming such a room of a building.
However, the related arts are complicated and inconvenient in terms of construction work or have a poor antimicrobial function because a paint or the like having the antimicrobial function is coated on the flooring or the like and not integrated into a construction material. In addition, when the floor, the wallpaper and the like construction materials are coated with an antimicrobial film, the coating film may be removed by a scratch as used for a long time or may not work properly in particular when it is thin. Further, the component having the antimicrobial function is not uniformly applied to a coating area, and it is thus difficult to expect a uniform and good antimicrobial effect throughout.
Accordingly, there is a need of a melamine sheet which contains a composition having an antimicrobial function in a melamine sheet used for a surface of flooring, has uniform antimicrobial effects throughout the entire area, is excellent in resistance to antimicrobial/sterilization, facilitates manufacture and maintenance, and is manufactured at a relatively low cost.
Korean Patent Publication No. 2012-0029106 (published on Mar. 26, 2012)
Korean Patent Publication No. 2000-0027656 (published on May 15, 2000)
An aspect of the disclosure is to provide an antimicrobial melamine sheet in which metal particles having an antimicrobial function are not only integrally coupled to a base solution containing a melamine resin but also uniformly applied throughout an entire area.
Another aspect of the disclosure is to provide an antimicrobial melamine sheet which is excellent in durability and kills germs on a surface thereof because metal particles having an antimicrobial function is positioned close to the surface of the melamine sheet as integrally coupled to a base solution.
Still another aspect of the disclosure is to provide an antimicrobial melamine sheet, in which metal particles having an antimicrobial function are promoted to generate ions and active oxygen, thereby maximizing and continuously keeping antimicrobial functionality.
Yet another aspect of the disclosure is to provide an antimicrobial melamine sheet which is simple and convenient to be used as coupled to surfaces of various construction materials.
According to an exemplary embodiment, there is provided an antimicrobial melamine sheet with a base sheet impregnated with a base solution including a melamine resin, the antimicrobial melamine sheet including: a fine metal particle mixed to the base solution to be impregnated in the base sheet; and an auxiliary additive mixed with the base solution and the metal particle to uniformly distribute the metal particle in the formed base sheet.
Further, the metal particle may include at least one of copper (Cu), silver (Ag), and zinc (Zn).
Further, the metal particle may have a size of 20˜200 μm.
Further, the auxiliary additive may include zeolite, glycol and silica.
Further, with respect to the base solution, the zeolite may be 3˜25 wt %, the glycol may be 0.5˜30 wt %, and the silica may be 1˜10 wt %.
Further, the metal particle of 0.3 wt %˜20 wt % may be mixed with respect to the base solution.
Further, with respect to the base solution, the metal particle may include one among copper, silver and zinc and be 0.5 wt %˜20 wt %, the zeolite may be 3 wt %˜25 wt %, the glycol may be 1 wt %˜30 wt/%, and the silica may be 3 wt %˜10 wt %.
Further, with respect to the base solution, the metal particle may include copper and silver and be 0.5 wt %˜10 wt %, and the zeolite may be 3 wt %˜20 wt %, the glycol may be 0.5 wt %˜15 wt %, and the silica may be 1 wt %˜10 wt %.
Further, with respect to the base solution, the metal particle may include copper, silver and zinc and be 0.3 wt %˜15 wt/o, and the zeolite may be 3 wt %˜20 wt %, the glycol may be 0.5 wt %˜20 wt %, and the silica may be 1 wt %˜10 wt %.
Further, with respect to the base solution, the metal particle may include copper and zinc and be 1 wt %˜10 wt %, and the zeolite may be 0 wt %˜20 wt %, the glycol may be 5 wt %˜15 wt %, and the silica may be 5 wt %˜10 wt %.
Further, with respect to the base solution, the metal particle may include copper and zinc and be 1 wt %˜20 wt %, and the zeolite may be 5 wt %˜20 wt %, the glycol may be 5 wt %˜15 wt %, and the silica may be 5 wt %˜10 wt %.
Further, the base sheet may include decorative paper.
According to an exemplary embodiment, there is provided a construction material including the foregoing antimicrobial melamine sheet, wherein the antimicrobial melamine sheet is coupled to a surface or rear of the construction material including a floor material.
Further, the floor material may include plywood, a medium-density fiberboard (MDF) or high-density fiberboard (HDF) plate formed by applying pressure to wood flour, a fiber board, and a magnesium board.
The above and/or the aspects will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of exemplary embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
In the disclosure, various changes can be made and many embodiments are possible. Thus, exemplary embodiments will be illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the detailed description. However, it will be appreciated that the disclosure is not limited to the exemplary embodiments, and involves all the changes, equivalents or alternatives that belong to the concept and technical scope of the disclosure.
It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another.
It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being ‘connected’ or ‘coupled’ to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being ‘directly connected’ or ‘directly coupled’ to another element, there are no intervening elements present.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms ‘comprises,’ ‘includes,’ etc. when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
An antimicrobial melamine sheet according to an embodiment of the disclosure will be described in detail with reference to
According to an embodiment of the disclosure, an antimicrobial melamine sheet 100 including a base sheet 120 impregnated with a base solution 110 containing a melamine resin (hereinafter, referred to as a ‘melamine sheet’) includes fine metal particles 130 mixed in the base solution 110 to be impregnated in the base sheet 120; and auxiliary additives (not shown) contained in the base solution 110 and the metal particles 130 so that the metal particles 130 can be uniformly distributed in the base sheet 120.
Here, the metal particles 130 may include at least one of copper (Cu), silver (Ag) and zinc (Zn), and may also include combination of these metal particles 130 to be described later. Such a metal particle 130 may have a size of 20˜200 μm. When the metal particles 130 are larger than the size of 20˜200 μm, the metal particles 130 have a strong tendency to sink due to specific gravity while forming a thin melamine sheet 100, and therefore it is difficult to uniformly distribute the metal particles 130 after a product is formed. Thus, the metal particles 130 are likely to agglomerate in an end product. Further, when the metal particle 130 is too big, the metal particles 130 may be exposed to the outside and thus make a surface not smooth.
On the other hand, when the metal particle 130 is too small, there is a limit to making the metal particles 130 small and there is a concern over stability (or safety) such as danger of explosion or the like.
Here, copper has an atomic number of 29, and is useful for various purposes as many as the expressions of copper alloys. For example, there are copper alloys such as bronze, brass and white copper, which respectively consist of tin, zinc and nickel and are named according to colors. Copper has good malleability and ductility, and is soft but becomes hard with addition of other elements. Copper is importantly used for many purposes in modern times, and there are an electric cable, a pipe for a heater, a radiator for a vehicle, a material for a roof, cookware, coin, etc. as examples of a familiar copper product. Copper has an antimicrobial function, and is harmless to humans.
Silver has an atomic number of 47, and its element symbol is ‘Ag’. In the periodic table, silver is in the same group as copper (Cu), gold (Au), etc. Silver is very excellent in malleability and ductility, and is soft but a littler harder than gold. Among all metals, pure silver at room temperature has the highest electric conductivity and the highest thermal conductivity, looks the whitest, has the highest reflectivity of light, and the lowest contact resistance with other metals. Silver has been conventionally used in coins (a silver coin and a silver alloy coin), medals, accessories, silverware, etc., but is currently used for various commercial purposes such as electric contact with an electronic product or conduct, an amalgam for filling a cavity of a tooth, a solder, ink, a reflection plate for a mirror or the like, a battery, etc. Silver ions and silver compounds are poisonous to some organisms such as viruses, algae, mold, etc. but harmless to humans, and therefore used in antimicrobial and antibiotic treatment.
Zinc has an atomic number of 30, and its atomic symbol is ‘Zn’. Zinc is bluish-white metal which is hard and friable with little malleability and ductility at room temperature but is so malleable at a temperature of 100˜150° C. as to be processed as a fine line or a thin plate. Zinc is a relatively good electric conductor, has relatively low melting and boiling points, and easily sublimates. The most common use of zinc is anticorrosive plating for iron. Further, zinc is used to be alloyed with different metal like brass. Zinc is a microelement essential for almost every living thing, and zinc is the second most transition metal in a human body after iron. As an element of many enzymes, Zinc affects synthesis and degradation of biomolecules such as carbohydrates, protein, nucleic acid, etc., and also affects growth, skeletogeny, reproduction and immune function. Zinc sulfide (ZnS) is used in luminous paint, deodorant, additives of an anti-dandruff shampoo, a wood preservation agent, antimicrobial agricultural chemicals, etc.
That is, the foregoing metal particles, i.e. copper, silver, and zinc are metal having the antimicrobial or sterilization function.
The auxiliary additives to be contained in the base solution 110 may include zeolite, glycol and silica. Here, zeolite may be 3˜25 wt %, glycol may be 0.5˜30 wt %, and silica may be 1˜10 wt %. Of course, the auxiliary additives may be mixed with the base solution 110 and the metal particles 130.
The base solution 110 may include a melamine resin, and may additionally include various kinds of synthetic resin as necessary.
Here, zeolite serves as a catalyst for the metal particles and causes the metal particles to release more ions and active oxygen, thereby making the released ions and active oxygen be easily adsorbed to germs harmful to humans and enhancing antimicrobial or sterilization activity.
Further, glycol makes the fine metal particles be uniformly distributed throughout a wide area, and silica makes the fine metal particles be uniformly distributed in a relatively narrow unit area. Such glycol and silica make the metal particles having high specific gravity be uniformly distributed in the base solution 110, thereby functioning to uniformly distribute the metal particles 130 in the wide area and the narrow area when the melamine sheet 100 is manufactured as a long and thin plate.
Here, a procedure of manufacturing the melamine sheet 100 shaped like a thin plate and a procedure of carrying out the antimicrobial activity will be described with reference to
First, it will be assumed that copper is used for the metal particles 130 and the base solution 110 is selected as the melamine resin. As shown in
To prevent heavy copper particles of high specific gravity from sinking during such a mixing procedure, the mixture is agitated and liquefied (see an ‘agitator’ in
By catalysis of zeolite, copper ions (Cu2+) and activated oxygen are more activated and released from copper contained in the antimicrobial sheet 100 and reach germs' cell membrane, thereby destructing a structure of a cell while being adsorbed to a cell membrane or the like protein. The copper ions adsorbed to the protein such as a cell membrane, an enzyme, etc. are coupled to a cysteine group of composition amino acid, and slow down energy metabolism of a cell, and the amino acid is turned into a sulfide. Meanwhile, activated oxygen is partially turned into active oxygen (O2+, O2−, O) by catalysis of copper ions, and active oxygen carries out strong disinfection action like ozone or hydrogen peroxide.
For effective sterilization or antimicrobial action of nano copper particles, more metal ions and activated oxygen have to be released. To this end, natural zeolite having an excellent effect on the catalysis of the nano copper particles is used.
Further, copper has a specific gravity of 8˜9, which is considerably higher than other metals (e.g. iron has a specific gravity of about 7), and therefore has a disadvantage of quickly sinking down even through it has a nanosized diameter. To uniformly distribute nano copper particles to the base solution 110, i.e. the PVC film, glycol is used.
In such a manufactured melamine sheet 100, the metal particles 130 including copper in a unit area of 10 mm*10 mm may for example be uniformly distributed within an error range of +10%.
Embodiments based on such a manufacturing method will be described as follows.
An antimicrobial melamine sheet was manufactured by mixing a melamine resin, i.e. a base solution with metal particles, i.e. 0.5˜20 wt % copper, 3˜25 wt % zeolite, 1˜30 wt % glycol, and 3˜10 wt % silica with respect to 100 wt % base solution. In the foregoing examples, this embodiment, and the following embodiments, the components of the melamine resin have been publicly known and do not form the core of the disclosure, and therefore detailed descriptions about the components of the melamine resin will be omitted.
An antimicrobial melamine sheet was manufactured by mixing a melamine resin, i.e. a base solution with metal particles, i.e. 0.5˜20 wt % silver, 3˜25 wt % zeolite, 1˜30 wt % glycol, and 3˜10 wt % silica with respect to 100 wt % base solution.
An antimicrobial melamine sheet was manufactured by mixing a melamine resin, i.e. a base solution with metal particles, i.e. 0.5˜20 wt % zinc, 3˜25 wt % zeolite, 1˜30 wt % glycol, and 3˜10 wt % silica with respect to 100 wt % base solution.
An antimicrobial melamine sheet was manufactured by mixing a melamine resin, i.e. a base solution with metal particles, i.e. 0.3˜15 wt % copper, silver and zinc, 3˜20 wt % zeolite, 0.5˜20 wt % glycol, and 1˜10 wt % silica with respect to 100 wt % base solution.
An antimicrobial melamine sheet was manufactured by mixing a melamine resin, i.e. a base solution with metal particles, i.e. 0.5˜10 wt % copper and silver, 3˜20 wt % zeolite, 0.5˜15 wt % glycol, and 1˜10 wt % silica with respect to 100 wt % base solution.
An antimicrobial melamine sheet was manufactured by mixing a melamine resin, i.e. a base solution with metal particles, i.e. 1˜10 wt % copper and zinc, 10˜20 wt % zeolite, 5˜15 wt % glycol, and 5˜10 wt % silica with respect to 100 wt % base solution.
An antimicrobial melamine sheet was manufactured by mixing a melamine resin, i.e. a base solution with metal particles, i.e. 1˜10 wt % silver and zinc, 5˜20 wt % zeolite, 5˜15 wt % glycol, and 5˜10 wt % silica with respect to 100 wt % base solution.
Results of comparison in performance between the melamine sheet 100, in which the base sheet 120 of decorative paper is impregnated with the base solution 110 including the metal particles 130 of copper with the base of the melamine resin and then hardened, according to the embodiment 1 and a conventional antimicrobial melamine film 300 formed by coating a melamine sheet 310 with an antimicrobial coating film 330 are tabulated in <Table 1>.
Here CS17 is a kind of sandpaper.
The melamine sheet 100 of the disclosure used in this case was manufactured according to the embodiment 1 by mixing the melamine resin with 2 wt % copper, 5 wt % zeolite, 2 wt % glycol, and 3 wt % silica, impregnating the base sheet with the mixture, drying the impregnated base sheet, and combining the dried base sheet to the plywood having a thickness of 7 mm, a width of 20 mm and a length of 20 mm. In the related art, an antimicrobial coating film was prepared to have a thickness of 1˜2 μm and coupled to the plywood for the base having a thickness of 7 mm and having the same width and length as those of the disclosure.
The foregoing Table shows results of culturing germs after the melamine sheet 100 formed by impregnating and hardening the base sheet 120 with the melamine resin according to the disclosure and the conventional melamine sheet having the antimicrobial coating film are subjected to abrasion tests.
First, the sheets of the disclosure and the related art were moved forward and backward 500 times under the condition that sandpaper CS-17 with a weight of 250 g is put thereon.
In result, abrasion occurred in both the disclosure and the related art (the thickness was abraded as much as 0.5 mm in the disclosure, and 0.4 mm in the related art). However, the disclosure showed that only the metal particles 130 from the abraded part were removed because the metal particles 130 were contained in the base solution 110, but the related art showed that the antimicrobial coating film 330 coated on the surface was almost removed.
Here, the abrasion test was based on KS M ISO 5470-1 (2016).
After the abrasion test, germs were cultured on the surfaces, and the disclosure and the related art were compared. In result, 99.9% germs were killed in the disclosure. Here, the germ test was based on JIS Z 2801 (2010E).
The following <Table 2> shows results from antimicrobial activity tests.
Escherichia coli
Staphylococcus
aureus
The related art may have a complicated process and cost much because the melanin sheet is formed and then the antimicrobial coating film is applied to or coated on the surface and/or rear of the melanin sheet. On the other hand, the disclosure shows a simpler process and remarkably better sterilization durability than the related art because the antimicrobial melamine sheet is formed at once by mixing the metal particles 130 and other elements, i.e. auxiliary additives to the base solution 110, and the metal particles 130 are present close to both the surface and rear as mixed and contained in the base solution 110.
Thus, according to the disclosure, there is provided the antimicrobial melamine sheet in which the metal particles having the antimicrobial function are present as integrally coupled to and uniformly distributed throughout the base solution containing the melamine resin.
Further, there is provided the antimicrobial melamine sheet in which the metal particles having the antimicrobial function are positioned close to the surface of the melamine sheet as integrally coupled to the base solution, which is excellent in durability and capable of eliminating the germs in contact with the surface thereof.
Further, there is provided the antimicrobial melamine sheet in which the metal particles having the antimicrobial function are promoted to generate ions and active oxygen, thereby maximizing and continuously keeping the antimicrobial function.
Further, there is provided the antimicrobial melamine sheet which is easy and convenient to use as coupled to the surfaces of various the construction material.
That is, for example,
Like this, the melamine sheet 100 is very widely utilized since it is applicable as coupling with construction materials including various kinds of flooring.
Therefore, there is provided an antimicrobial melamine sheet in which metal particles having an antimicrobial function are not only integrally coupled to a base solution containing a melamine resin but also uniformly applied throughout an entire area.
Further, there is provided an antimicrobial melamine sheet which is excellent in durability and kills germs on a surface thereof because metal particles having an antimicrobial function is positioned close to the surface of the melamine sheet as integrally coupled to a base solution.
Further, there is provided an antimicrobial melamine sheet, in which metal particles having an antimicrobial function are promoted to generate ions and active oxygen, thereby maximizing and continuously keeping antimicrobial functionality.
Further, there is provided an antimicrobial melamine sheet which is simple and convenient to be used as coupled to surfaces of various construction materials.
Although a few exemplary embodiments of the disclosure have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and equivalent embodiments may be made in these exemplary embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.
