New Antimicrobial Treatment for Carpet Applications

Consumers frequently demand the right to control and select their environment with respect to colors, texture, temperature, humidity, odors, light, and sound. Carpeting constitutes a major environmental surface for both residential and commercial establishments. One implication is that the dyeing and finishing industries are constantly challenged to provide carpeting with desired and needed functional and aesthetic features. A desirable feature, as shown in market studies, concerns freedom from foul odors. Carpeting by its construction and use provides a habitat for a large variety of microorganisms, some of which not only produce putrid and mildew odors, but also contribute to unsightly defacement and deterioration of carpet components. These microbes may also produce infectious and/or allergenic conditions in humans. Dow Corning Corporation has long been recognized as a world leader in the preparation and uses of polymers made from silicon, including fluids, resins, rubbers, and their manufacturing precursors. One subset of these materials is that of the organofunctional silanes; they are chemically tailored to bond a variety of similar and dissimilar surfaces to each other. Many variations in substituents on silicon are presently available, chosen for the specific surfaces to be modified. As an extension of this technology, scientists at Dow Corning have learned to bond biologically and/or chemically active molecules to surfaces, thus permanently imparting properties of those molecules to otherwise inert surfaces. The Dow Corning antimicrobial agent is the first such material which modifies surfaces by rendering them permanently bactericidal, fungicidal, and algicidal.