Consumer product manufacturers are always looking for new ways to address common household problems.  Dust removal is one such problem that has attracted considerable attention over the years.  Review of patent literature reveals that there has been some recent work aimed at inhibiting deposition of dust onto surfaces of interest.  Compositions containing certain liquid polymeric compounds are claimed capable of effectively retarding dust accumulation on surfaces.  The inventors did not advance a mechanism of action for dust repellency.  The purpose of this research was to validate dust repellency claims and to preliminarily investigate possible mechanisms by which these compounds may operate.  Commercially marketed versions of said compositions were applied to a variety of surfaces in order to determine the effectiveness of the repellent on different materials of construction.  A control experiment using a well-known commercial cleaner resulted in dust resettling in 14 days.  The composition described in the patent extended the time of dust resettling to 25 days, with the exception of a painted metal box, which collected dust in 11 days.  A working mechanism based on ionic charge is suggested from the different effects of the compounds on the various test surfaces.

Determination of the mechanism of a dust anti-deposition agent

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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