The Secretary of State for Defence in Her Britannic Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Jas P S Badyal

Colin Robert Willis

Stuart Anson Brewer

Stephen Richard Coulson

A method of coating a surface with a polymer layer, which method comprises exposing said surface to a plasma comprising a monomeric unsaturated organic compound which comprises a chain of carbon atoms, which are optionally substituted by halogen; provided that where the compound is a perhalogenated alkene, it has a chain of at least 5 carbon atoms; so as to form an oil or water repellent coating on said substrate. Suitable compounds for use in the methods are compounds of formula (I) where R, Rand Rare independently selected from hydrogen, alkyl, haloalkyl or aryl optionally substituted by halo; provided that at least one of R, Ror Ris hydrogen, and Ris a group X&#x2014;Rwhere Ris an alkyl or haloalkyl group and X is a bond; a group of formula &#x2014;C(O)O(CH)Y&#x2014; where n is an integer of from 1 to 10 and Y is a bond or a sulphonamide group; or a group &#x2014;(O)R(O)(CH)&#x2014; where Ris aryl optionally substituted by halo, p is 0 or 1, q is 0 or 1 and t is 0 or an integer of from 1 to 10, provided that where q is 1, t is other than 0. The method is particularly useful in the production of oil- and/or water repellent fabrics.

Surface coatings

A method of coating a surface with a polymer layer, which method comprises exposing said surface to a plasma comprising a monomeric unsaturated organic compound which comprises a chain of carbon atoms, which are optionally substituted by halogen; provided that where the compound is a perhalogenated alkene, it has a chain of at least 5 carbon atoms; so as to form an oil or water repellent coating on said substrate. Suitable compounds for use in the methods are compounds of formula (I) where R , R and R are independently selected from hydrogen, alkyl, haloalkyl or aryl optionally substituted by halo; provided that at least one of R , R or R is hydrogen, and R is a group X&mdash;R where R is an alkyl or haloalkyl group and X is a bond; a group of formula &mdash;C(O)O(CH ) Y&mdash; where n is an integer of from 1 to 10 and Y is a bond or a sulphonamide group; or a group &mdash;(O) R (O) (CH ) &mdash; where R is aryl optionally substituted by halo, p is 0 or 1, q is 0 or 1 and t is 0 or an integer of from 1 to 10, provided that where q is 1, t is other than 0. The method is particularly useful in the production of oil- and/or water repellent fabrics.

Growing community of inventors

Durham, United Kingdom

Jas P S Badyal