Claims
- 1. A reinforced networked polymer/clay alloy composite comprising a networked polymer/clay alloy, wherein the alloy is a chemically integrated composition of polymer and clay, and the alloy is intimately integrated with a reinforcing agent so that, when the composite is immersed in deionized water, at a temperature in a range of from about 20° C. to about 30° C., the alloy swells with substantially no clay separating from the composite.
- 2. The reinforced networked polymer/clay alloy composite of claim 1, wherein the reinforcing agent comprises a substrate having a porous structure.
- 3. The reinforced networked polymer/clay alloy composite of claim 2, wherein the substrate is selected from the group consisting of knitted, woven and non-woven, natural and synthetic fibers.
- 4. The reinforced networked polymer/clay alloy composite of claim 3, wherein the synthetic fibers are selected from the group consisting of polypropylene, polyester, polyamide, polyethylene fibers, and combinations thereof.
- 5. The reinforced networked polymer/clay alloy composite of claim 1, wherein the clay particles in the alloy are swelling clay particles selected from the group consisting of montmorillonite, saponite, nontronite, laponite, beidellite, iron-saponite, hectorite, sauconite, stevensite, vermiculite and combinations thereof.
- 6. The reinforced networked polymer/clay alloy composite of claim 1, wherein the clay particles in the alloy are non-swelling clay particles selected from the group consisting of kaolin minerals, serpentine minerals, mica minerals, chlorite minerals, sepiolite, palygorskite, bauxite, silica and combinations thereof.
- 7. The reinforced networked polymer/clay alloy composite of claim 1, wherein the weight ratio of clay to polymer in the alloy is in a range of from about 0.05:1 to about 19:1.
- 8. The reinforced networked polymer/clay alloy composite of claim 1, wherein the weight ratio of clay to polymer in the alloy is in a range of from about 0.5:1 to about 3:1.
- 9. The reinforced networked polymer/clay alloy composite of claim 1, wherein the polymer of the alloy is a copolymer of a water-insoluble monomer and a monomer having the following general formula:
- 10. The reinforced networked polymer/clay alloy composite of claim 1, wherein the alloy is formed by exposure to an energy source selected from the group consisting of thermal energy, electromagnetic radiation having a wavelength less than about 10 nm and combinations thereof.
- 11. The reinforced networked polymer/clay alloy composite of claim 1, further comprising a substantially non-porous layer.
- 12. The reinforced networked polymer/clay alloy composite of claim 11, wherein the substantially non-porous layer is selected from the group consisting of HDPE, PVC, VFPE, fPP, CSPE, and combinations thereof.
- 13. The reinforced networked polymer/clay alloy composite of claim 1, wherein the moisture content is in a range of from about 25 to about 75% by weight.
- 14. The reinforced networked polymer/clay alloy composite of claim 1, wherein the residual monomer content is less than 200 ppm by weight of the polymer in the alloy.
- 15. The reinforced networked polymer/clay alloy composite of claim 1, wherein, when placed under a zero confining stress, the flux with deionized water is less than about 1×10−8 m3/m2/s.
- 16. The reinforced networked polymer/clay alloy composite of claim 1, wherein, when placed under a zero confining stress, the flux with a 3.5 wt. % NaCl solution is less than about 1×10−8 m3/m2/s.
- 17. The method of using the reinforced networked polymer/clay alloy composite of claim 1 as a fluid barrier in a confining stress range of from about 0 kPa to about 10000 kPa, wherein, when placed under a zero confining stress, the barrier has a deionized water flux less than about 1×10−8 m3/m2/s.
- 18. The method of using the reinforced networked polymer/clay alloy composite of claim 1 as an absorbent material used in a personal care article.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
2,272,828 |
May 1999 |
CA |
|
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/579,701 filed in the names of Zhihong Zhou, John Donald Payzant and Walter van Woudenberg on May 26, 2000, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/356,278, filed Jul. 16, 1999, abandoned.
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09579701 |
May 2000 |
US |
Child |
10413679 |
Apr 2003 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09356278 |
Jul 1999 |
US |
Child |
09579701 |
May 2000 |
US |