Monday, December 29, 2008

US Patent 7468332 - Nanolayer electroconductive fabric

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7468332.html

This patent teaches some nanomaterials having potential use for "electrotextiles" providing the integration of clothing with electronic systems such as sensors or communication systems. Claim 1 reads:

1. An electrically conductive fabric comprising:

a fabric substrate material; and

at least a first nanolayer of a first substance applied directly onto said fabric substrate material, and a second nanolayer of a second substance applied onto said first nanolayer;

at least one of said first substance and/or second substance comprising a conductive substance selected from the group consisting of nanoparticles, conductive polymer, and a combination of nanoparticles with a conductive polymer;

said second substance being selected from the group consisting of nanoparticles of graphite, metals, conductive metal oxides, and conductive polymers selected from the group consisting of polyaniline, poly(anilinesulfonic acid), polyaniline doped with ligninesulfonic acid, polypyrrole, polypyrrole doped with polystyrenesulfonic acid, polythiophene, poly(ethylenedioxythiophene) doped with polystyrenesulfonic acid; and said conductive metal oxides being selected from the group consisting of conductive titanium dioxide, antimony doped tin oxide, aluminum doped zinc oxide, and zirconium doped zinc oxide.