Star Macromolecules for Personal and Home Care
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.
1 . A star macromolecule represented by Formula X:
[(P1) q1 -(P2) q2 ] t -Core-[(P3) q3 ] r Formula X
wherein:
Core represents a crosslinked polymeric segment;
P1 represents a homopolymeric segment comprised of repeat units of monomeric residues of polymerized hydrophobic monomers;
P2 represents a homopolymeric segment comprised of repeat units of monomeric residues of polymerized hydrophilic monomers;
P3 represents a homopolymeric segment comprised of repeat units of monomeric residues of polymerized hydrophilic monomers;
q1 represents the number of repeat units in P1 and has a value between 1 and 50;
q2 represents the number of repeat units in P2 and has a value between 30 and 500;
q3 represents the number of repeat units in P3 and has a value between 30 and 500;
r represents the number of homopolymeric arms covalently attached to the Core;
t represents the number of copolymeric arms covalently attached to the Core; and
wherein the molar ratio of r to t is in the range of between 20:1 and 2:1.
2 . The star macromolecule of claim 1 , wherein the one or more star macromolecules have a molecular weight of between 150,000 g/mol and 600,000 g/mol.
3 . The star macromolecule of claim 1 , wherein the sum total number of arms (r+t) is between 15 and 45.
4 . The star macromolecule of claim 1 , wherein the molar ratio of r to t is in the range of between 8:1 and 3:1.
5 . The star macromolecule of claim 1 , wherein both q2 and q3 have a value greater than 100, and wherein q2 is greater than q3.
6 . The star macromolecule of claim 1 , wherein the arms represented by [(P1) q1 -(P2) q2 ] have an HLB value greater than 18.
7 . The star macromolecule of claim 1 , wherein the P1 homopolymeric segment is a hydrophobic homopolymeric segment having an HLB value of less than 7.
8 . The star macromolecule of claim 1 , wherein the core comprises a hydrophobic crosslinked polymeric segment.
9 . The star macromolecule of claim 1 , wherein the star macromolecule is a water soluble mikto star macromolecule.
10 . The star macromolecule of claim 1 , wherein the star macromolecule, when dissolved in water at a concentration of at least 0.2 wt. %, forms a clear, homogeneous gel having a viscosity of at least 20,000 cP.
11 . A star macromolecule having a molecular weight of between 150,000 g/mol and 600,000 g/mol that forms a clear, homogeneous gel when dissolved in water at a concentration of at least 0.2 wt. %;
wherein the gel has:
i) a dynamic viscosity of at least 20,000 cP;
ii) a salt-induced break value of at least 60%;
iii) a shear-thinning value of at least 10; and/or
iv) an emulsion value of greater than 12 hours.
12 . The star macromolecule of claim 11 , wherein the gel-forming star macromolecule has a viscosity of greater than 40,000 cP at a pH between 6 to 11.
13 . The star macromolecule of claim 11 , wherein the gel-forming star macromolecule has a viscosity of less than 5,000 cP at a shear rate of 4 sec −1 .
14 . The star macromolecule of claim 11 , wherein the gel-forming star macromolecule has a PDI of less than 2.5.
15 . The star macromolecule of claim 11 , wherein the gel-forming star macromolecule is a water-soluble mikto star macromolecule.
16 . The star macromolecule of claim 11 , wherein the gel-forming star macromolecule has between 15 to 45 arms.
17 . The star macromolecule of claim 11 , wherein the arms of the gel-forming star macromolecule comprise hydrophilic homopolymeric arms and copolymeric arms, comprising hydrophilic polymeric segments and hydrophobic polymeric segments.
18 . The star macromolecule of claim 17 , wherein the arms of the gel-forming star macromolecule have an HLB of between 18 and 20.
19 . An emulsion comprising:
a water-soluble star macromolecule having:
i) a molecular weight of at least 150,000 g/mol; and
ii) a dynamic viscosity of at least 20,000 cP at a concentration of 0.4 wt. %.
20 . The emulsion of claim 19 , wherein the emulsion is an emulsifier-free emulsion.