| abstract |
Desiccant-coated substrates, regeneratable rotary dehumidification wheels and other devices for gas (e.g., air) treatment using those substrates, and processes for making them are disclosed. The substrates may have coatings in thicknesses of from about 2 to about 10 mils containing particles of one or more adsorbent desiccants and an organic water-based binder. The desiccant particles retain a high fraction of their original adsorption capacity because the pores of the desiccant particles contain a pore-clearing agent prior to the binder setting and the pore-clearing agent leaves the pores during the manufacturing process to prevent the binder from blocking the pores. In preferred embodiments a mixture of different desiccants is used and a particle suspending agent keeps the particles well-mixed so that the desiccant particles in the coated substrate will be as well-mixed as possible. The suspending agent may also function as the pore-clearing agent. A pH-adjusting agent may be used to control the pH of the coating if the binder or another constituent of the coating is pH-sensitive. |