Fiber suitable for packaging and storing plant produce

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9944450-B2
Application number	US-201414913527-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 22, 2014
Priority date	Jul 22, 2013
Publication date	Apr 17, 2018
Grant date	Apr 17, 2018

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a fiber suitable for packaging. The fiber comprises a photocatalyst and optionally, a silicon containing linker. The photocatalyst is bonded to the fiber by means of a first functional group pre-present on the fiber and optionally, a second functional group generated by a silicon containing linker. The chemical bonding between the fiber and the photocatalyst imparts durability and wash ability to the fiber. A packaging material prepared using the fiber of the present disclosure can be used for the storage of plant produce.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A fiber suitable for packaging and storing plant produce; said fiber comprising a photocatalyst and optionally, a silicon containing linker;
characterized in that said photocatalyst is bonded to the fiber by means of a first functional group pre-present on said fiber and optionally, a second functional group generated by said silicon containing linker, wherein said photo-catalyst is at least one selected from the group consisting of titanium iso-propoxide, zinc oxide, metal doped titania and non-metal doped titania, wherein the metal doped titania comprises at least one metal selected from the group consisting bismuth, cerium, lanthanum, iron and zinc; and
wherein the non-metal doped titania comprises at least one non-metal selected from the group consisting of nitrogen and sulfur.

2. The fiber as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the fiber is natural fiber of plant material selected from the group consisting of cotton, jute and cellulosic material; or the fiber is synthetic fiber of polymeric material.

3. The fiber as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the photo-catalyst is embedded in at least one adsorbent substrate.

4. The fiber as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the adsorbent substrate is at least one selected from the group consisting of Ag exchanged ZSM 5 zeolite, zeolite A, alumina and silica.

5. The fiber as claimed in claim 3 , wherein the particle size of the adsorbent substrate ranges between of 0.1 nm and 150 nm.

6. The fiber as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the bond between the fiber and the photo-catalyst is at least one bond from the group consisting of covalent, ionic, hydrogen, zwitterion, electron-pair, van der waals forces and pi bond interaction.

7. The fiber as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the silicon containing linker is at least one selected from the group consisting of tetramethyl ortho silicate, trimethoxy silane, tetraethyl orthosilicate, triethoxy silane, methyl-dimethoxy silane, methyl-diethoxy silane, methyl-trimethoxy silane, cyclohexyl triethoxy silane, methyl-triethoxy silane, methyl-tripropoxy silane, methyl-tributoxysilane, propyl-trimethoxy silane, propyl-triethoxy silane, allyl-triethoxy silane, n-butyl trimethoxy silane, n-butyl triethoxy silane, i-butyl-trimethoxy silane, i-butyl-triethoxy silane and dodecyl-trimethoxy silane.

8. A process for preparing a fiber as claimed in claim 1 suitable for packaging and storing plant produce, said process comprising the following steps:
a) refluxing the fiber with a mixture comprising at least one photocatalyst, at least one solvent and optionally, at least one silicon containing linker, at a temperature ranging between 40° C. and 90° C. to obtain a treated fiber; and
b) washing, and drying said treated fiber to obtain a fiber suitable for packaging.

9. The process as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the proportion of silicon containing linker to the photocatalyst is in the range of 1:1 and 300:1.

10. The process as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the photocatalyst is at least one selected from the group consisting of titanium iso-propoxide, zinc oxide, metal doped titania and non-metal doped titania.

11. The process as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the metal doped titania comprises at least one metal selected from the group consisting bismuth, cerium, lanthanum, iron and zinc; and the non-metal doped titania comprises at least one non-metal selected from the group consisting of nitrogen and sulfur.

12. The process as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the photo-catalyst is embedded in adsorbent substrate and said photocatalyst is obtained by a method comprising the following steps:
i. treating at least one adsorbent substrate with a mixture comprising at least one vehicle and at least one photocatalyst under stirring for a time period of 30 min to 5 hrs to obtain slurry; wherein, the proportion of the adsorbent substrate to the mixture is in the range of 5:1 to 50:1
ii. drying the slurry at a temperature of 50° C. to 200° C. for a time period of 30 min to 5 hrs. to obtain an un-hydrolyzed photocatalyst embedded in adsorbent substrate; and
iii. hydrolyzing the un-hydrolyzed photocatalyst embedded in adsorbent substrate with water to obtain a hydrolyzed photocatalyst embedded in adsorbent substrate; and
iv. drying and calcining the hydrolyzed photocatalyst embedded in adsorbent substrate to obtain a photocatalyst embedded in adsorbent substrate.

13. The process as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the photo-catalyst is at least one selected from the group consisting of titanium iso-propoxide, zinc oxide, metal doped titania and non-metal doped titania.

14. The process as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the metal doped titania comprises at least one metal selected from the group consisting bismuth, cerium, lanthanum, iron and zinc; and the non-metal doped titania comprises at least one non-metal selected from the group consisting of nitrogen and sulfur.

15. The process as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the adsorbent substrate is at least one selected from the group consisting of Ag exchanged ZSM 5 zeolite, zeolite A, alumina and silica.

16. The process as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the particle size of the adsorbent substrate ranges between of 0.1 nm and 150 nm.

17. A packaging material for storing plant produce prepared using the fiber as claimed in claim 1 .

Assignees

• Reliance Industries Ltd

Inventors

• Sidhpuria Kalpeshkumar
• Kumar Prakash
• Krishnamurthy Gurudatt
• Dehade Shashank
• SARKAR Sudip Kumar
• Jasra Raksh Vir

Classifications

• B01D2253/108

  Zeolites · CPC title

• D06M13/513

  with at least one carbon-silicon bond · CPC title

• D06M13/507

  Organic silicon compounds without carbon-silicon bond · CPC title

• D06M11/77

  with silicon or compounds thereof (with silanes or disilanes D06M11/01) · CPC title

• D06M13/50

  with organometallic compounds; with organic compounds containing boron, silicon, selenium or tellurium atoms · CPC title