Superabsorbent structure
AssigneeTechnion Research & Development Foundation Limited
InventorsMichael S. Silverstein, Tao Zhang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Provided is a superabsorbent structure based on a covalently crosslinked copolymer having a microstructure of a HIPE, and characterized by hydrophobic and hydrophilic segments of at least five residues; the unique chemical and structural properties of the copolymer afford a polymeric superabsorbent structure that is capable of swelling in polar as well as apolar media. Also provided are processes of manufacturing the superabsorbent structure, and uses thereof.
Claims20
A superabsorbent structure, comprising a covalently crosslinked copolymer having a microstructure templated by an external phase of a high internal phase emulsion (HIPE), wherein said crosslinked copolymer is characterized by:
- a) at least one network of covalently crosslinked chains, said crosslinked chains comprise hydrophobic sections and hydrophilic sections, each of said sections is a continuous chain of at least five residues long;
- b) a ratio of residues of said hydrophilic sections to residues of said hydrophobic sections, ranging from 1:9 to 9:1;
- and
- c) a total of said residues of said hydrophilic sections and said residues of said hydrophobic sections that is at least 30% of a total of residues in said network,
- said crosslinked copolymer is capable of swelling in a polar medium and in an apolar medium, and
- wherein said network comprises contiguous chains of at least one hydrophilic section and at least one hydrophobic section.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.