Nano-tex, Inc.

Ryan Lau

David S Soane

Matthew R Linford

Eric G Green

William Ware, Jr

Dan B Millward

David A Offord

Lael Erskine

This invention is directed to fabric finishes or treatment preparations for nylon, polyester, and other textile and fibrous substrate materials that will render them hydrophilic. The finishes of the invention are comprised primarily of polymers that contain carboxyl groups, salts of carboxyl groups, or moieties that can be converted to carboxyl groups by some chemical reaction.

Hydrophilic finish for fibrous substrates

This invention is directed to preparations useful for the permanent or substantially permanent treatment of textiles and other webs. More particularly, the preparations of the invention comprise an agent or other payload surrounded by or contained within a polymeric encapsulator that is reactive to webs, to give textile-reactive nanoparticles. By &ldquo;textile-reactive&rdquo; is meant that the payload nanoparticle will form a chemical covalent bond with the fiber, yarn, fabric, textile, finished goods (including apparel), or other web or substrate to be treated. The polymeric encapsulator of the payload nanoparticle has a surface that includes functional groups for binding or attachment to the fibers of the textiles or other webs to be treated, to provide permanent attachment of the payload to the textiles. Alternatively, the surface of the nanoparticle includes functional groups that can bind to a linker molecule that will in turn bind or attach the nanoparticle to the fiber. This invention is further directed to the fibers, yarns, fabrics, other textiles, or finished goods treated with the textile-reactive nanoparticles. Such textiles and webs exhibit a greatly improved retention or durability of the payload agent and its activity, even after multiple washings.

Nanoparticle-based permanent treatments for textiles

The invention is directed to fiber-reactive polymeric dyes, which comprise a dye covalently bound to a carboxyl-containing polymer. By &ldquo;fiber-reactive&rdquo; is meant that the polymeric dye will form a chemical covalent bond with the fiber, textile, or web to be treated, via functional groups for binding or attachment to the fibers of the webs to be dyed. The invention also encompasses textile dye preparations comprising a solution or suspension of the fiber-reactive polymeric dye. The resulting polymeric dye preparations have improved colorfastness and retention on the textile or web fiber structure, even after a large number of washings. The textiles or webs treated with the fiber-reactive dye are also included in the invention.

Fiber-reactive polymeric dyes

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Berkeley, CA, United States of America

Ryan Lau