Anisotropic and amphiphilic particles and methods for producing and using the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2015291742-A1
Application number	US-201514687266-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 15, 2015
Priority date	Apr 15, 2014
Publication date	Oct 15, 2015
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method for producing an amphiphilic particle or an anisotropic particle includes combining seed particles with a monomer emulsion to obtain monomer-swollen seed particles, polymerizing the monomer-swollen seed particles to obtain polymerized monomer-swollen particles, and hydrolyzing the polymerized monomer-swollen particles. An amphiphilic particle is adapted to stabilize a first type of multiphasic mixture comprising a first aqueous phase having a first pH and a second type of multiphasic mixture comprising a second aqueous phase having a second pH.

First claim

What is claimed:

1 . A method for producing an amphiphilic particle or an anisotropic particle comprising the steps of:
combining seed particles with a monomer emulsion to obtain monomer-swollen seed particles; polymerizing the monomer-swollen seed particles to obtain polymerized monomer-swollen particles; and hydrolyzing the polymerized monomer-swollen particles.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the seed particles comprise a hydrophobic polymer.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the hydrophobic polymer is linear polystyrene.

4 . The method of claim 1 for producing the amphiphilic particle, wherein the monomer emulsion comprises a mixture of at least one hydrophobic monomer and at least one hydrophilic-precursor monomer.

5 . The method of claim 4 for producing the amphiphilic particle, wherein the at least one hydrophobic monomer is selected from the group consisting of methyl methacrylate, bromostyrene, and styrene.

6 . The method of claim 5 for producing the amphiphilic particle, wherein the at least one hydrophobic monomer is styrene.

7 . The method of claim 4 for producing the amphiphilic particle, wherein the at least one hydrophilic-precursor monomer is selected from the group consisting of tert-butyl acrylate, tert-butyl methacrylate, and tert-butyl acrylamide.

8 . The method of claim 1 for producing the amphiphilic particle, wherein the monomer emulsion comprises a mixture of at least one cross-linking agent and at least one hydrophilic-precursor monomer.

9 . The method of claim 8 for producing the amphiphilic particle, wherein the at least one cross-linking agent is selected from the group consisting of divinyl benzene, bisacrylamide, and elemental sulfur.

10 . The method of claim 9 for producing the amphiphilic particle, wherein the at least one cross-linking agent is divinyl benzene.

11 . The method of claim 8 for producing the amphiphilic particle, wherein the monomer emulsion further comprises a non-polymerizable solvent.

12 . The method of claim 11 for producing the amphiphilic particle, wherein the non-polymerizable solvent is selected from the group consisting of toluene, hexane, xylene, benzene, and cyclohexane.

13 . The method of claim 8 for producing the amphiphilic particle, wherein the monomer emulsion further comprises at least one hydrophobic monomer.

14 . The method of claim 13 for producing the amphiphilic particle, wherein the at least one hydrophobic monomer is selected from the group consisting of methyl methacrylate, bromostyrene, and styrene.

15 . The method of claim 1 for producing the amphiphilic particle, wherein the monomer emulsion comprises a mixture of a non-polymerizable solvent and a monomer.

16 . The method of claim 15 for producing the amphiphilic particle, wherein the non-polymerizable solvent is toluene and the monomer is tert-butyl acrylate.

17 . The method of claim 15 for producing the amphiphilic particle, wherein the non-polymerizable solvent is toluene and the monomer is tert-butyl methacrylate.

18 . The method of claim 1 for producing the anisotropic particle, wherein the monomer emulsion consists of a mixture of a solvent and a hydrophilic-precursor monomer.

19 . The method of claim 18 for producing the anisotropic particle, wherein the solvent is toluene and the hydrophilic-precursor monomer is tert-butyl acrylate.

20 . The method of claim 18 for producing the anisotropic particle, wherein the solvent is toluene and the hydrophilic-precursor monomer is tert-butyl methacrylate.

21 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the polymerized monomer-swollen particles are hydrolyzed with a mixture of trifluoroacetic acid and formic acid.

22 . An amphiphilic particle adapted to stabilize a first type of multiphasic mixture comprising a first aqueous phase having a first pH and a second type of multiphasic mixture comprising a second aqueous phase having a second pH.

23 . The amphiphilic particle of claim 22 adapted to cause a phase inversion of the first type of multiphasic mixture into the second type of multiphasic mixture by adjusting the first pH of the first aqueous phase to the second pH.

24 . The amphiphilic particle of claim 22 wherein the first type of multiphasic mixture is a water in oil emulsion and the second type of multiphasic mixture is an oil in water emulsion.

25 . An amphiphilic particle adapted to stabilize a water in oil in water emulsion comprising encapsulated water droplets and an aqueous phase having a first pH, and further adapted to cause the release of the encapsulated water by adjusting the aqueous phase to a second pH.

26 . A method for inverting a first type of multiphasic mixture comprising a first aqueous phase and having a first pH into a second type of multiphasic mixture comprising a second aqueous phase and having a second pH comprising the steps of:
adding an amphiphilic particle to the first type of multiphasic mixture; and adjusting at least one of a volume fraction of a component phase of the first type of multiphasic mixture and a first pH of the first aqueous phase to the second pH.

Assignees

• Univ Pennsylvania

Inventors

• Lee Daeyeon
• Tu Fuquan

Classifications

• C08F212/08 Primary

  Styrene · CPC title

• C08J3/05

  from solid polymers · CPC title

• C08F8/12

  Hydrolysis · CPC title

• C08J2333/02

  Homopolymers or copolymers of acids; Metal or ammonium salts thereof · CPC title

• C08F8/00

  Chemical modification by after-treatment (graft polymers, block polymers, crosslinking with unsaturated monomers or with polymers C08F251/00 - C08F299/00; of conjugated diene rubbers C08C) · CPC title