Composite materials

Abstract

A composite material is formed by combining an expandable polymer having a charge with another polymer having an opposite charge to produce. In particular, the composite material can be prepared by combining the polymers with a medium such as and water, and expanding the mixture using a treatment that expands the mixture to produce, for example, insoluble porous foam-like composites.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A process of preparing a composite material, the process comprising mixing at least one soluble polymer having a charge, at least one soluble polymer of opposite charge, and at least one polar solvent, wherein at least one of the soluble polymers is capable of expanding; and expanding the mixture. 
     
     
         2 . The process of preparing a composite material according to  claim 1 , the process comprising preparing a mixture containing (i) at least one anionic starch as the at least one soluble polymer having a charge, (ii) at least one cationic polysaccharide as the at least one soluble polymer of opposite charge, and (iii) water as the at least one polar solvent and subjecting the mixture to a thermal treatment. 
     
     
         3 . The process of preparing a composite material according to  claim 1 , the process comprising preparing a mixture containing (i) at least one anionic starch as the at least one soluble polymer having a charge, (ii) at least one cationic polysaccharide as the at least one soluble polymer of opposite charge, and (iii) water as the at least one polar solvent and subjecting the mixture to a microwave treatment. 
     
     
         4 . The process of preparing a composite material according to  claim 1 , the process comprising preparing a mixture containing (i) at least one anionic starch as the at least one soluble polymer having a charge, (ii) at least one cationic polysaccharide as the at least one soluble polymer of opposite charge, and (iii) water as the at least one polar solvent and subjecting the mixture to a thermal extrusion. 
     
     
         5 . The process of preparing a composite material according to  claim 1 , the process comprising preparing a mixture containing (i) at least one anionic starch as the at least one soluble polymer having a charge, (ii) at least one cationic polysaccharide as the at least one soluble polymer of opposite charge, and (iii) water as the at least one polar solvent and forming a fiber of the composition using electrospinning. 
     
     
         6 . The process of  claim 1 , the process comprising preparing a mixture containing (i) at least one anionic starch as the at least one soluble polymer having a charge, (ii) at least one cationic polysaccharide as the at least one soluble polymer of opposite charge, and (iii) at least one polar solvent, wherein the anionic starch contains at least 75% w/w amylopectin. 
     
     
         7 . The process of  claim 1 , the process comprising preparing a mixture containing (i) at least one anionic starch as the at least one soluble polymer having a charge, (ii) at least one cationic polysaccharide as the at least one soluble polymer of opposite charge, and (iii) at least one polar solvent, wherein the anionic starch is not gelatinized. 
     
     
         8 . The process of  claim 1 , the process comprising preparing a mixture containing (i) at least one anionic starch as the at least one soluble polymer having a charge, (ii) at least one cationic polysaccharide as the at least one soluble polymer of opposite charge, and (iii) at least one polar solvent, wherein the anionic starch is in an amount of at least 75% and the cationic polysaccharide is between 2% and 10%. 
     
     
         9 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the polar solvent is in an amount between 40% and 80% in the mixture. 
     
     
         10 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the mixture further contains between 1% and 25% cellulose. 
     
     
         11 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the mixture further contains between 1% and 25% nanocellulose. 
     
     
         12 . The process of  claim 1 , wherein the mixture further contains between 0.01% to 1% polyhexamethylene biguanid. 
     
     
         13 . The composite prepared according to  claim 1 . 
     
     
         14 . The composite prepared according to  claim 6 . 
     
     
         15 . The composite prepared according to  claim 7 . 
     
     
         16 . The composite prepared according to  claim 8 . 
     
     
         17 . The composite prepared according to  claim 9 . 
     
     
         18 . The composite prepared by  claim 10 . 
     
     
         19 . The composite prepared by  claim 11 . 
     
     
         20 . The composite prepared by  claim 12 .