SBIR Phase I: Synthesis and Characterization of Amphiphilic Graft Copolymers for Utility as Thermoplastic Hydrogels

拟议项目的智力价值是什么？这个小企业创新研究第一阶段项目将确定生产一类新型两亲接枝共聚物作为热塑性水凝胶共聚物的可行性。热塑性水凝胶在商业上是不可用的，并且会引起人们的极大兴趣，因为与传统的交联水凝胶材料不同，它们可以通过溶剂铸造、挤压、热成型或热熔注射从溶液或热加工成任何形式/形状。所提出的技术创新将通过设计一系列具有明确的，可调节的大分子结构的两亲性接枝共聚物来实现，链上有或没有抗菌悬垂基团。该项目将探索一系列具有化学性质和疏水接枝浓度变化的化学成分。基础聚合物，聚（2-乙基-2-恶唑啉），是一种商用聚合物，是热稳定，无定形，水溶性，可挤出聚合物。物理交联将通过微相分离来实现。亲水性主链在有水的情况下会膨胀。膨胀程度和机械性能将通过调整适合所需应用要求的大分子结构来控制。建议项目的更广泛/商业影响是什么？该项目的更广泛/商业影响将是开发可加工的水凝胶，用于伤口护理，水净化膜，打印的喷墨接收层和热成型隐形眼镜的特定应用。通过使用活性聚合方法控制合成方法来定制这些材料的性能的能力将大大提高它们的实用性，以服务于这些不同的行业。热塑性水凝胶可以加工，而交联水凝胶是不溶和不溶的。低成本的加工方法，如热成型，注射成型或挤出提供了显着的经济优势比许多目前市场上的水凝胶产品。此外，调整组成和调整亲/疏水性质和微相分离的能力，控制膨胀程度，将使性能优化，具有广泛的潜在应用。非浸出抗菌基团沿链的合并将提高其在伤口护理和水净化膜的效用。研究与物理和热机械数据相关的表面和体形貌将有助于更好地理解两亲性接枝共聚物的结构-性能关系作为组成和观察形貌的函数。

What is the intellectual merit of the proposed project?This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will establish the feasibility of producing a novel class of amphiphilic graft copolymers to serve as thermoplastic hydrogel copolymers. Thermoplastic hydrogels are not available commercially and would be of great interest because, unlike conventional cross-linked hydrogel materials, they can be processed from solution or thermally into any form/shape via solvent casting, extrusion, thermoforming or hot melt injection. The proposed technology innovation will be achieved by the design of a series of amphiphilic graft copolymers with well-defined, adjustable macromolecular architectures with and without antimicrobial pendant groups along the chain. The project will explore a range of chemical compositions with variations in the chemical nature and concentration of hydrophobic grafts. The base polymer, poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline), is a commercially available polymer that is thermally stable, amorphous, water soluble, extrudable polymer. Physical crosslinks will be achieved by microphase separation. In the presence of water the hydrophilic backbone will swell. The degree of swelling and mechanical properties will be controlled by adjusting the macromolecular architecture tailored to the desired application requirements.What are the broader/commercial impacts of the proposed project?The broader/commercial impact of this project will be to develop processible hydrogels tailored for specific applications for wound care, water purification membranes, ink jet receptive layers for printing and thermoform contact lenses. The ability to tailor the properties of these materials by controlled synthetic methods using living polymerization methods will greatly enhance their utility to serve these diverse industries. Thermoplastic hydrogels can be processed, whereas cross-linked hydrogels are insoluble and infusible. Low cost processing methods such as thermoforming, injection molding or extrusion offer significant economic advantage over many current hydrogel products on the market. Moreover, the ability to adjust the composition and tailor the hydrophilic/hydrophobic nature and microphase separation, which controls the degree of swelling, will enable the optimization of performance for a wide range of potential applications. The incorporation of non-leaching antimicrobial groups along the chain will enhance their utility in wound care and water purification membranes. Investigation of the surface and bulk morphology correlated to physical and thermo-mechanical data will help to obtain a better understanding of structure-property relationship of amphiphilic graft copolymers as a function of composition and observed morphology.