Star macromolecules for personal and home care
AssigneeATRP Solutions, Inc.
InventorsWojciech Jakubowski, Patrick McCarthy, Nicolay Tsarevsky, James Spanswick
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A polymer composition comprising star macromolecules is provided. Each star macromolecule has a core and five or more arms, wherein the number of arms within a star macromolecule varies across the composition of star molecules. The arms on a star are covalently attached to the core of the star; each arm comprises one or more (co)polymer segments; and at least one arm and/or at least one segment exhibits a different solubility from at least one other arm or one other segment, respectively, in a reference liquid of interest.
Claims37
A polymer composition comprising mikto star macromolecules, wherein each mikto star macromolecule comprises:
- a core and a plurality of ATRP arms, said plurality of ATRP arms comprising:
- a) at least one arm of the plurality of ATRP arms is a hydrophilic homopolymeric ATRP arm, wherein the homopolymeric ATRP arms of the polymer composition have a polydispersity index of between 1.0 and 2.5;
- and
- b) at least one arm of the plurality of ATRP arms is a copolymer ATRP arm, wherein the copolymer ATRP arms of the polymer composition have a polydispersity index of between 1.0 and 2.5, and said copolymer ATRP arm comprises:
- 1) a longer hydrophilic segment proximal to the core;
- and
- 2) a shorter hydrophobic segment distal to the core;
- wherein:
- i) the homopolymeric ATRP arms are shorter than the copolymer ATRP arms;
- and
- ii) the polymer composition behaves as a thickening agent in an aqueous medium at concentration of less than 5 wt. %.
A polymer composition comprising mikto star macromolecules, wherein each mikto star macromolecule comprises:
- a core and a plurality of ATRP arms, said plurality of ATRP arms comprising:
- a) at least one arm of the plurality of ATRP arms is a hydrophobic homopolymeric ATRP arm, wherein the homopolymeric ATRP arms of the polymer composition have a polydispersity index of between 1.0 and 2.5;
- and
- b) at least one arm of the plurality of ATRP arms is a copolymer ATRP arm, wherein the copolymer ATRP arms of the polymer composition have a polydispersity index of between 1.0 and 2.5, and said copolymer ATRP arm comprises:
- 1) a longer hydrophobic segment proximal to the core;
- and
- 2) a shorter hydrophilic segment distal to the core;
- wherein:
- i) the homopolymeric ATRP arms are shorter than the copolymer ATRP arms;
- and
- ii) the polymer composition behaves as a thickening agent.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.