Surface modification of polymer foams using plasma

US11459439B2 · US · B2

Patent metadata
FieldValue
Publication numberUS-11459439-B2
Application numberUS-202016984370-A
CountryUS
Kind codeB2
Filing dateAug 4, 2020
Priority dateJul 25, 2015
Publication dateOct 4, 2022
Grant dateOct 4, 2022

How to read this patent

A practical reading order for non-experts. Skip the full description unless you need deep technical detail.

  1. Title

    What the patent document calls the invention.

  2. Abstract

    A short plain-language summary of the technical disclosure.

  3. Assignees and inventors

    Who owns or filed the patent and who is credited as inventor.

  4. Key dates

    Filing, priority, publication, and grant dates set the timeline.

  5. First independent claim

    The legal scope of protection — read this for what is actually claimed.

  6. CPC / IPC classifications

    Technology tags used to group this patent with similar filings.

  7. Citations and related patents

    Prior art links and similar publications in this corpus.

Abstract

Official abstract text for this publication.

An embodiment includes a system comprising: a monolithic shape memory polymer (SMP) foam having first and second states; wherein the SMP foam includes: (a) polyurethane, (b) an inner half portion having inner reticulated cells defined by inner struts, (c) an outer half portion, having outer reticulated cells defined by outer struts, surrounding the inner portion in a plane that provides a cross-section of the SMP foam, (d) hydroxyl groups chemically bound to outer surfaces of both the inner and outer struts. Other embodiments are discussed herein.

First claim

Opening claim text (preview).

What is claimed is: 1. A shape memory polymer system comprising: a monolithic shape memory polymer (SMP) foam having first and second states; and a hydrocarbon film; wherein the SMP foam is a tissue scaffold and includes: (a) polyurethane, (b) an inner half portion having inner reticulated cells defined by inner struts, and (c) an outer half portion, having outer reticulated cells defined by outer struts, surrounding the inner half portion in a plane that provides a cross-section of the SMP foam; wherein: (a) the hydrocarbon film directly contacts both of the inner struts and the outer struts, and (b) the SMP foam includes a non-linear expansion rate when exposed to thermal stimulus based on the hydrocarbon film. 2. The system of claim 1 including a reticulation gradient such that the outer reticulated cells are more reticulated than the inner reticulated cells. 3. The system of claim 1 , wherein: the SMP foam includes distal and proximal portions; the distal portion includes the inner half portion and the outer half portion; and one of the distal and proximal portions includes cells that are more heavily reticulated than another of the distal and proximal portions. 4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the SMP foam has a surface energy configured to recover towards increasing hydrophobicity over time. 5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the inner and outer struts both include a reaction product of N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis (2-hydroxypropyl) ethylenediamine (HPED), triethanolamine (TEA), and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI). 6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the inner and outer struts both include a reaction product of N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis (2-hydroxypropyl) ethylenediamine (HPED), triethanolamine (TEA), and trimethyl hexamethylene diisocyanate (TMHDI). 7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbon film is hydrophobic and is no thicker than 500 nm. 8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbon film is hydrophobic. 9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the SMP foam includes hydroxyl groups chemically bound to outer surfaces of both the inner and outer struts. 10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbon film includes vinyl groups. 11. A shape memory polymer system comprising: a monolithic shape memory polymer (SMP) foam having first and second states; and a monolithic hydrocarbon film on the SMP foam; wherein the SMP foam is a tissue scaffold and includes: (a) polyurethane, (b) an inner half portion having inner reticulated cells defined by inner struts, and (c) an outer half portion, having outer reticulated cells defined by outer struts, surrounding the inner half portion in a plane that provides a cross-section of the SMP foam; wherein the SMP foam includes a non-linear expansion rate when exposed to thermal stimulus based on to both: (a) the hydrocarbon film being configured to induce a change to a rate of moisture plasticization of the SMP foam, and (b) the inner struts having less of the hydrocarbon film than the outer struts. 12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the hydrocarbon film includes only hydrogen and carbon and is no thicker than 50 nm and the hydrocarbon film is hydrophobic. 13. A system comprising: a monolithic shape memory polymer (SMP) foam having first and second states; and a hydrocarbon film; wherein the SMP foam is a tissue scaffold and includes: (a) polyurethane, (b) an inner half portion having inner non-thermal plasma-reticulated cells defined by inner form-struts, and (c) an outer half portion, having outer non-thermal plasma-reticulated cells defined by outer form-struts, surrounding the inner half portion in a plane that provides a cross-section of the SMP foam; wherein: (a) the hydrocarbon film coats both of the inner form-struts and the outer form-struts, (b) the SMP foam includes a non-linear expansion rate when exposed to moisture due to hydrocarbon film-induced plasticization rate depression, and (c) the SMP foam is thrombogenic based on a surface-to-volume ratio of the SMP foam. 14. The system of claim 13 including a reticulation gradient such that the outer non-thermal plasma-reticulated cells are more reticulated than the inner non-thermal plasma-reticulated cells. 15. The system of claim 13 , wherein both of the inner and outer form-struts: (a) include a reaction product of N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis (2-hydroxypropyl) ethylenediamine (HPED), triethanolamine (TEA), and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), and (b) are biodegradable. 16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the SMP foam is hydrophobic and the hydrocarbon film is hydrophobic. 17. The system of claim 13 , wherein both of the inner and outer form-struts: (a) include a reaction product of N,N,N′,N′-tetrakis (2-hydroxypropyl) ethylenediamine (HPED), triethanolamine (TEA), and trimethyl hexamethylene diisocyanate (TMHDI), and (b) are biodegradable. 18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the SMP foam is hydrophobic and the hydrocarbon film is hydrophobic. 19. The system of claim 13 , wherein the SMP foam includes hydroxyl groups chemically bound to outer surfaces of both the inner and outer form-struts. 20. The system of claim 13 , wherein the hydrocarbon film comprises hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen.

Assignees

Inventors

Classifications

  • obtained otherwise than by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds {(A61L31/041 takes precedence)} · CPC title

  • Use of PC, i.e. polycarbonates {or derivatives thereof}, as moulding material · CPC title

  • by plasma treatment {(plasma tubes per se H01J)} · CPC title

  • to macromolecular substances, e.g. rubber (treatment or coating of shaped articles made of macromolecular substances C08J7/00) · CPC title

  • After-treatment (C08J9/22 takes precedence) · CPC title

Patent family

Related publications grouped by family.

External sources

Frequently asked questions

Answers are generated from the same data shown on this page.

What does patent US11459439B2 cover?
An embodiment includes a system comprising: a monolithic shape memory polymer (SMP) foam having first and second states; wherein the SMP foam includes: (a) polyurethane, (b) an inner half portion having inner reticulated cells defined by inner struts, (c) an outer half portion, having outer reticulated cells defined by outer struts, surrounding the inner portion in a plane that provides a cross…
Who is the assignee on this patent?
L Livermore Nat Security Llc, Texas A & M Univ Sys
What technology area does this patent fall under?
Primary CPC classification C08J9/365. Mapped technology areas include Chemistry & Metallurgy.
When was this patent published?
Publication date Tue Oct 04 2022 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) (B2). Legal status and post-grant events are not shown on this page.
What related patents are in patentsdb?
We list 8 related publications on this page (citations in our corpus or others sharing the same primary CPC).