Star macromolecules for personal and home care
View Patent ↗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 compound 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 polymeric segment comprised of monomeric residues of polymerized hydrophobic monomers;
P2 represents a polymeric segment comprised of monomeric residues of polymerized hydrophilic monomers;
P3 represents a polymeric segment comprised of monomeric residues of polymerized hydrophilic monomers;
q1 represents the number of the monomeric residues in P1;
q2 represents the number of the monomeric residues in P2;
q3 represents the number of the monomeric residues in P3 of between 30 and 500;
r represents the number of polymeric arms covalently attached to the Core;
t represents the number of polymeric arms covalently attached to the Core; and
wherein:
i) the ratio of r to t is in the range of between 20:1 and 2:1; and
ii) at least one polymeric arm has a number average molecular weight of greater than 10,000 g/mol.
2. The compound of claim 1 , wherein q2 is greater than q3.
3. The compound of claim 1 , wherein the number average molecular weight of the at least one polymeric arm is between 10,000 g/mol and 200,000 g/mol.
4. The compound of claim 1 , wherein:
i) the polymeric segment P1 has an HLB less than 8;
ii) the polymeric segment P2 has an HLB equal to or greater than 8; or
iii) the polymeric segment P3 has an HLB equal to or greater than 8.
5. The compound of claim 1 , wherein the arms represented by [(P1) q1 -(P2) q2 ] have an HLB value greater than 18.
6. The compound of claim 1 , wherein the polymeric segment P1 is a hydrophobic polymeric segment having an HLB value of less than 7.
7. The compound of claim 1 , wherein the arms represented by [(P1) q1 -(P2) q2 ] extend beyond the arms represented by [(P3) q3 ].
8. The compound of claim 7 , wherein the polymeric segment P1 is a hydrophobic homopolymeric segment.
9. The compound of claim 1 , wherein the arms represented by [(P1) q1 -(P2) q2 ] have a hydrophilic segment at its proximal end and a hydrophobic segment at its distal end, relative to the crosslinked core.
10. The compound of claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked core comprises a hydrophobic crosslinked polymeric segment.
11. The compound of claim 1 , wherein the crosslinked core contains additional functionality and/or expanded free volume.
12. The compound of claim 1 , wherein at least one polymeric segment is prepared by living ionic polymerization.
13. The compound of claim 12 , wherein the living ionic polymerization is anionic polymerization.
14. The compound of claim 1 , wherein at least one polymeric segment is prepared by free radical polymerization.
15. The compound of claim 1 , wherein at least one polymeric segment is prepared by living/controlled radical polymerization (CRP).
16. The compound of claim 15 , wherein living/controlled radical polymerization is stable free radical polymerization (SFRP), degenerative chain transfer polymerization (DT), or atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP).
17. The compound of claim 1 , wherein the compound has a molecular weight of greater than 100,000 g/mol and 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.
18. The compound of claim 17 , wherein the gel has a viscosity of greater than 40,000 cP at a pH between 6 to 11.
19. The compound of claim 17 , wherein the gel has a viscosity of less than 5,000 cP at a shear rate of 4 sec-1.
20. The compound of claim 1 , wherein the compound is a rheology-modifying compound.
21. The compound of claim 1 , wherein the compound is an enhanced oil recovery additive.
22. A compound 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 polymeric segment comprised of monomeric residues of polymerized water-insoluble monomers;
P2 represents a polymeric segment comprised of monomeric residues of polymerized water-soluble monomers;
P3 represents a polymeric segment comprised of monomeric residues of polymerized water-soluble monomers;
q1 represents the number of the monomeric residues in P1;
q2 represents the number of the monomeric residues in P2;
q3 represents the number of the monomeric residues in P3 of between 30 and 500;
r represents the number of polymeric arms covalently attached to the Core;
t represents the number of polymeric arms covalently attached to the Core; and
wherein:
i) the ratio of r to t is in the range of between 20:1 and 2:1; and
ii) at least one polymeric arm has a number average molecular weight of greater than 10,000 g/mol.
23. A compound 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 polymeric segment having an HLB less than 8 and comprised of monomeric residues of polymerized monomers;
P2 represents a polymeric segment having an HLB equal to or greater than 8 and comprised of monomeric residues of polymerized monomers;
P3 represents a polymeric segment having an HLB equal to or greater than 8 and comprised of monomeric residues of polymerized monomers;
q1 represents the number of the monomeric residues in P1;
q2 represents the number of the monomeric residues in P2;
q3 represents the number of the monomeric residues in P3 of between 30 and 500;
r represents the number of polymeric arms covalently attached to the Core;
t represents the number of polymeric arms covalently attached to the Core; and
wherein:
i) the ratio of r to t is in the range of between 20:1 and 2:1; and
ii) at least one polymeric arm has a number average molecular weight of greater than 10,000 g/mol.
24. A composition, comprising the compound of claim 1 .