Columbia Technology Ventures

Hydrophobically modified polymer for the effective removal of stains

This technology is a modified polymer for the removal of both grease and non-grease stains.

Unmet Need: A polymer additive to detergents to solubilize oily stains

Current methods for removing oily stains involve incorporating the oily stains into surfactant micelles to solubilize the insoluble substance. Since solubilizing the oily stains requires micelles or similar supramolecular structures, the concentration of the surfactant in water must exceed the critical micelle concentration, even after the adsorption of the surfactant on the fabric has taken place. Calculations have shown that the concentrations of surfactants used in practical laundering do not exceed micelles the critical micelle concentration to solubilize oily stains. Consequently, it is difficult for a currently available general heavy-duty liquid (HDL) formulation to remove all types of undesirable materials from different substrates.

The Technology: Hydrophobically modified polymer for enhanced stain removal

This technology provides a hydrophobically modified polymer as an additive to HDL detergents. The polymer poly(maleic acid/vinyl octyl ether) (PMAOVE) generates nanodomains to encapsulate and solubilize the hydrophobic stain. As a result, the hydrophobically modified polymer exhibits the behavior of both polymers as well as surfactants, enabling it act as a stain specific surfactant capable of effectively solubilizing oily stains.

This technology has been validated using oleic acid stains.

Applications:

  • An additive to HDL detergents
  • Stain remover
  • Pre-spotting stains

Advantages:

  • Effective at concentrations as low as 1000 ppm
  • Removes fresh and aged stains
  • Removes a variety of oily stains
  • Removes different kinds of stains at the same time

Lead Inventor:

Ponisseril Somasundaran, Ph.D.

Patent Information:

Patent Status

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