Electrically conductive, transparent, translucent, and/or reflective materials

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2015291754-A1
Application number	US-201514687131-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 15, 2015
Priority date	Apr 15, 2014
Publication date	Oct 15, 2015
Grant date	—

Abstract

In one aspect, microporous membranes are described herein demonstrating composite architectures and properties suitable for electronic and/or optical applications. In some embodiments, a composite membrane described herein includes a microporous polymeric matrix or substrate having an interconnected pore structure and an index of refraction and an electrically conductive coating deposited over one or more surfaces of the microporous polymeric matrix. In other embodiments, the pores are filled and the membranes are substantially transparent.

First claim

That which is claimed is:

1 . A composite membrane comprising:
a microporous polymeric matrix having an interconnected pore structure and an index of refraction; and an electrically conductive coating deposited over one or more surfaces of the microporous polymeric matrix.

2 . The composite membrane of claim 1 further comprising filler material in the pore structure of the polymeric matrix, the filler material having an index of refraction substantially matching the index of refraction of the polymeric matrix.

3 . The composite membrane of claim 2 , wherein the filler material is a solid.

4 . The composite membrane of claim 2 , wherein the filler material comprises an adhesive.

5 . The composite membrane of claim 2 , wherein the membrane is transparent or translucent.

6 . The composite membrane of claim 1 , wherein the microporous polymeric matrix is formed of one or more polyolefins (POs), including polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) or copolymers thereof, of polyamide, polyester, polysulfone such as polyethersulfone (PES), cellulose or fluoropolymer including polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyvinyl fluoride (PVF) and/or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), or combinations or blends thereof.

7 . The composite membrane of claim 6 , wherein the one or more polyolefins are selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene and copolymers and blends thereof.

8 . The composite membrane of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric matrix is formed of a single layer of polymeric material.

9 . The composite membrane of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric matrix comprises multiple layers of polymeric material.

10 . The composite membrane of claim 9 , wherein individual layers of the polymeric matrix are selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, polypropylene and copolymers and blends thereof.

11 . The composite membrane of claim 1 having a thickness of 1 μm to 100 μm.

12 . The composite membrane of claim 1 having a thickness of 5 μm to 20 μm.

13 . The composite membrane of claim 1 , wherein the electrically conductive coating comprises a metal or alloy.

14 . The composite membrane of claim 1 , wherein the membrane is flexible.

15 . The composite membrane of claim 1 having sheet resistance of 1-500 Ω/sq.

16 . A touchscreen device comprising:
a display; and a composite membrane positioned over the display, the composite membrane comprising a microporous polymeric matrix having an interconnected pore structure and an index of refraction and an electrically conductive coating deposited over one or more surfaces of the microporous polymeric matrix.

17 . The touchscreen device of claim 16 , wherein the composite membrane further comprises filler material in the pore structure of the polymeric matrix, the filler material having an index of refraction substantially matching the index of refraction of the polymeric matrix.

18 . A method of making a composite membrane comprising:
providing a microporous polymeric matrix having an interconnected pore structure and an index of refraction; and depositing an electrically conductive coating over one or more surfaces of the microporous polymeric matrix.

19 . The method of claim 18 further comprising positioning filler material in the pore structure of the polymeric matrix, the filler material having an index of refraction substantially matching the index of refraction of the polymeric matrix.

20 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the filler material is a solid.

21 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the filler material is an adhesive.

22 . The method of claim 18 , wherein providing a microporous polymeric matrix comprises extruding a polymeric composition and stretching the polymeric composition in the machine direction, the transverse direction, or both the machine and transverse direction, inducing pore formation of the matrix.

23 . The method of claim 18 , wherein providing a microporous polymeric matrix comprises extruding a mixture of a polymeric composition and plasticizer and removing the plasticizer inducing pore formation of the matrix.

24 . The composite membrane of claim 2 , wherein the filler material has an index of refraction that is +/−0.1 relative to the index of refraction of the polymeric matrix.

25 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the filler material has an index of refraction that is +/−0.1 relative to the index of refraction of the polymeric matrix.

26 . The composite membrane of claim 1 , wherein the electrically conductive coating is patterned over one or more surfaces of the microporous polymeric matrix.

27 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the electrically conductive coating is patterned over one or more surfaces of the microporous polymeric matrix.

28 . The composite membrane of claim 2 , wherein the electrically conductive coating is patterned over one or more surfaces of the microporous polymeric matrix.

29 . The method of claim 19 , wherein the electrically conductive coating is patterned over one or more surfaces of the microporous polymeric matrix.

30 . A transparent or translucent membrane comprising:
a microporous polymeric matrix having an interconnected pore structure and an index of refraction; and a filler material in the pore structure of the polymeric matrix, the filler material having an index of refraction substantially matching the index of refraction of the polymeric matrix.

Assignees

• Celgard Llc

Inventors

• Humiston Karl F
• Stokes Kristoffer K

Classifications

• C23C14/20

  on organic substrates · CPC title

• C09D5/24 Primary

  Electrically-conducting paints {(conductive materials H01B1/00)} · CPC title

• C08J2323/12

  Polypropene · CPC title

• C08J2323/06

  Polyethene · CPC title

• C08J7/06 Primary

  with compositions not containing macromolecular substances · CPC title