The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 26, 2022
Filed:
Mar. 05, 2020
The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, Urbana, IL (US);
Nancy R. Sottos, Champaign, IL (US);
Mostafa Yourdkhani, Windsor, CO (US);
Ian D. Robertson, Philadelphia, PA (US);
Mayank Garg, Urbana, IL (US);
Jeffrey S. Moore, Savoy, IL (US);
THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, Urbana, IL (US);
Abstract
A method of forming a void, channel and/or vascular network in a polymeric matrix comprises providing a pre-vascularized structure that includes a matrix material and a sacrificial material embedded in the matrix material in a predetermined pattern, where the matrix material comprises a monomer and the sacrificial material comprises a polymer. A region of the matrix material is activated to initiate an exothermic polymerization reaction and generate a self-propagating polymerization front. As the polymerization front propagates through the matrix material and polymerizes the monomer, heat from the exothermic reaction simultaneously degrades the sacrificial material into a gas-phase and/or liquid-phase byproduct. Thus, one or more voids or channels having the predetermined pattern are rapidly formed in the matrix material.