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US 11,939,569 B2Granted
Biodegradable polyester-based polyurethane foams
AssigneeEvoco Limited
InventorsJason James Robinson, Natalie Beth Ashdown, Gregory Allan Whitton
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Abstract
A biodegradable foam which includes a polyester-based polyurethane foam and a mixture comprised of a soil-dwelling carbon-digesting bacteria embedded in a carrier compound. The mixture of the soil-dwelling carbon-digesting bacteria is homogenously dispersed throughout the polyester-based polyurethane foam. This biodegradable foam exhibits biodegradation rates higher than a polyester-based polyurethane foam absent the soil-dwelling carbon-digesting bacteria.
Claims21
A method of producing a biodegradable foam, comprising:
- a) mixing polyester polyol with
- i) one or more catalysts,
- ii) water, and
- iii) soil-dwelling carbon-digesting bacteria, or a soil-dwelling carbon digesting bacteria embedded in a carrier compound to produce a mixture, and
- b) mixing isocyanate into said mixture to induce a chemical reaction between the isocyanate and the water to produce carbon dioxide gas, and simultaneously induce a chemical reaction between the isocyanate and the polyester polyol to produce a polyester based polyurethane polymer with carbon dioxide bubbles trapped within to produce said biodegradable polyester-based polyurethane foam, said biodegradable polyester-based polyurethane foam characterized in that it exhibits biodegradation rates which are higher than the same polyester-based polyurethane foam absent the soil-dwelling carbon-digesting bacteria.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.