Non-ionic coacervates for dry, humid and wet adhesion

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11033573-B1
Application number	US-201916700130-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Dec 2, 2019
Priority date	Feb 1, 2019
Publication date	Jun 15, 2021
Grant date	Jun 15, 2021

Abstract

A non-ionic polymer coacervate is provided that is useful for forming adhesive bonds between wet surfaces, and that operates over a wide range of pH.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A non-ionic polymer coacervate represented by Formula I:

where R1 is selected from moieties that include an N- or N,N-substituted secondary or tertiary amide, R2 is selected from aliphatic groups, unsubstituted aromatic functional groups, and aromatic groups functionalized with one or more hydroxyl groups, n is from about 10 to about 500, E is from about 60 to about 95, M is from 0 to about 40, C is from about 5 to about 40, and where the sum of M+E+C is 100.

2. The polymer of claim 1 , where R1 is selected from 2-ethoxyethan-1-amine, Morpholine, bis(2-methoxyethyl)amine, and 2-methoxyethan-1-amine groups.

3. The polymer of claim 1 , where R2 is selected from methyl, benzene, phenol, catechol, resorcinol and pyrogallol groups.

4. The polymer of claim 1 , where the polymer is characterized by a molecular weight of from about 5 to about 200 kDa.

5. The polymer of claim 1 , where the polymer has a lower critical solution temperature in aqueous medium of from about −20 to about 100° C.

6. An underwater adhesive composition that is prepared by crosslinking the polymer of claim 1 .

7. A coacervate adhesive composition comprising a polymer having the formula

where R1 is selected from moieties that include an N- or N,N-substituted secondary or tertiary amide, R2 is selected from aliphatic groups, unsubstituted aromatic functional groups, and aromatic groups functionalized with one or more hydroxyl groups, n is from about 10 to about 500, E is from about 60 to about 95, M is from 0 to about 40, C is from about 5 to about 40, and where the sum of M+E+C is 100.

8. A method for adhering surfaces under wet conditions, the method comprising:
contacting the surfaces with an adhesive composition comprising a polymer represented by the formula

where R1 is selected from moieties that include an N- or N,N-substituted secondary or tertiary amide, R2 is selected from aliphatic groups, unsubstituted aromatic functional groups, and aromatic groups functionalized with one or more hydroxyl groups, n is from about 10 to about 500, E is from about 60 to about 95, M is from 0 to about 40, C is from about 5 to about 40, and where the sum of M+E+C is 100; and
crosslinking the polymer to form an adhesive bond between the surfaces.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the step of crosslinking includes exposing the polymer to UV radiation.

10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the surfaces are underwater.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the surfaces is biological tissue.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein step of contacting the surfaces occurs at a pH of from about 3 to about 9.

13. The method of claim 8 , wherein step of contacting the surfaces occurs at an ionic strength that corresponds to from 0 to about 1 M NaCl.

14. The method of claim 8 , where the step of crosslinking the polymer to form an adhesive bond occurs within about 1 hour or less.

15. The polymer of claim 1 , wherein the sum of M+C is greater than or equal to 20.

Assignees

• Joy Abraham
• Narayanan Amal
• Univ Akron

Inventors

• Joy Abraham
• Narayanan Amal

Classifications

• C08G63/6856

  Dicarboxylic acids and dihydroxy compounds · CPC title

• A61K31/785 Primary

  Polymers containing nitrogen · CPC title

• C09J167/02

  Polyesters derived from dicarboxylic acids and dihydroxy compounds (C09J167/06 takes precedence) · CPC title