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AssigneeImplico B.V.
InventorsPatricia-Ann Truter, Sefora Francinah Ntshudisane, Jessica Ruth Wilson, Gillian Rae Cuthbert
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The invention provides a translucent, water-insoluble hydrogel composition and methods of making it. The hydrogel composition comprises a polyvinyl alcohol polymer and a complexing agent which are physically crosslinked to form a semi-crystalline polyvinyl alcohol-complexing agent polymer complex. This is achieved by: (i) combining a polyvinyl alcohol polymer with a suitable aprotic solvent; (ii) Adding a complexing agent to (i) to form a water soluble complex with the polyvinyl alcohol polymer; and (iii) Allowing the polyvinyl alcohol polymer and the complexing agent to form a water-insoluble, semi-crystalline structure. The formation of the semi-crystalline structure is assisted by freezing the polyvinyl alcohol/complexing agent/polar aprotic solvent mixture.
A translucent, water-insoluble hydrogel composition comprising a polyvinyl alcohol polymer and a complexing agent wherein the complexing agent is a water-soluble polymer, other than a polyvinyl alcohol polymer, complementary to the polyvinyl alcohol and the polyvinyl alcohol polymer and the complexing agent are physically crosslinked by electrostatic interactions, hydrogen bonding interactions and/or Van Der Waals forces in a freezing step without reactive crosslinking monomers being present to form a semi-crystalline polyvinyl alcohol-complexing agent polymer complex in which amorphous portions persist which fill intervening spaces between crystallites.
A method of forming a translucent, water-insoluble hydrogel composition comprising the steps of:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.