Light actuated insect repellant textiles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2018317479-A1
Application number	US-201715588287-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 5, 2017
Priority date	May 5, 2017
Publication date	Nov 8, 2018
Grant date	—

Abstract

Embodiments of the disclosure generally provide compositions and methods involving textiles that repel insects by vibrations and oscillations. The random and chaotic oscillations are caused by molecular bond isomerizations in the textile material driven by visible light, such as sunlight.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An insect repellant textile, comprising:
a plurality of woven fibers, comprising fluoroazobenzene groups, which vibrate when exposed to visible light.

2 . The insect repellant textile of claim 1 , wherein the fibers vibrate when exposed to sunlight.

3 . The insect repellant textile of claim 2 , wherein the fibers vibrate when exposed to light having a wavelength from 400 nm to 700 nm.

4 . The insect repellant textile of claim 2 , wherein the fibers vibrate when exposed to blue light and green light.

5 . The insect repellant textile of claim 1 , wherein the fluoroazobenzene groups are selected from the group consisting of ortho, meta, and para fluoroazobenzene groups.

6 . The insect repellant textile of claim 5 , wherein fluoroazobenzene groups include ortho-fluoroazobenzene groups.

7 . The insect repellant textile of claim 1 , wherein the fibers include cis and trans bond isomerization reaction products.

8 . The insect repellant textile of claim 1 , wherein the fluoroazobenzene groups have an E molecular conformation.

9 . The insect repellant textile of claim 1 , wherein the fluoroazobenzene groups have a Z molecular conformation.

10 . The insect repellant textile of claim 1 , wherein the fluoroazobenzene groups have a mixture of E and Z molecular conformations.

11 . The insect repellant textile of claim 1 , wherein the fluoroazobenzene groups are covalently bonded to the fibers.

12 . The insect repellant textile of claim 11 , wherein the fluoroazobenzene groups are the reaction product of a copolymerization reaction.

13 . The insect repellant textile of claim 1 , wherein the fluoroazobenzene groups are bonded to the fibers by a bond type selected from the group consisting of ionic bonding and hydrogen bonding.

14 . The insect repellant textile of claim 1 , wherein the fibers comprise a natural fiber.

15 . The insect repellant textile of claim 14 , wherein the natural fiber is selected from the group consisting of protein containing fibers, cellulosic fibers, and synthetically modified cellulosic fibers.

16 . The insect repellant textile of claim 1 , wherein the fibers comprise a synthetic fiber.

17 . The insect repellant textile of claim 16 , wherein the synthetic fiber is made from a material selected from the group consisting of polyolefin, polyacrylic, polyester, and polyamide.

18 . The insect repellant textile of claim 1 , wherein the fibers comprise co-woven natural and synthetic fibers.

19 . The insect repellant textile of claim 1 , wherein the fluoroazobenzene groups are at least 2% by weight based on the textile weight.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Doyle Matthew S
• Judd Jeffrey N
• Kuczynski Joseph
• Strand Scott D
• Tofil Timothy J

Classifications

• A01N33/26 Primary

  containing nitrogen-to-nitrogen bonds, e.g. azides, diazo-amino compounds, diazonium compounds, hydrazine derivatives · CPC title

• A01N25/10

  Macromolecular compounds · CPC title

• D03D25/00

  Woven fabrics not otherwise provided for · CPC title

• D03D1/0035

  Protective fabrics · CPC title

• D03D15/50

  characterised by the properties of the yarns or threads · CPC title