US Patent 7297281 - Nanoporous inner coating for filtering

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7297281.html

A variety of nanoporous materials have been proposed for filters in which a fluid to be filtered is passed through the nanoporous material to remove impurities. This invention presents a somewhat interesting alternative in which the nanoporous material is placed on an inner surface of a water bottle (or similar container) and acts to absorb contaminants from the water passing across (but not through) the inner surface. Claim 1 reads:

1. A system for purification of fluid, the system comprising:
a receptacle;
a chamber situated within the receptacle and into which a volume of fluid to be treated may be placed; and
a porous matrix, positioned within the chamber, having a plurality of nanoscaled pores dispersed therein, such that fluid having particulates and/or contaminants flowing across one surface of the matrix flows back out along the same surface of the matrix substantially without the particulates and contaminants;
wherein the nanoscaled pores of the porous matrix are dispersed between a fluid contact surface across which fluid may flow and a substantially fluid impermeable surface, such that fluid flowing across the contact surface into the pores of the matrix flows back out along the contact surface.