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:
Feb. 22, 2000
Filed:
Mar. 17, 1997
Bhagwati G Kabra, Ft. Worth, TX (US);
Stevin H Gehrke, Cincinnati, OH (US);
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH (US);
Abstract
An absorbent, microporous foam comprising a crosslinked polymer having interconnected fluid cells distributed throughout its mass, wherein the fluid cells have a diameter of between about 0.1 and about 100 .mu.m, and wherein the foam can rapidly absorb at least about twice its dry weight in fluid, is disclosed. Also disclosed is a method for producing such microporous, absorbent foams. In this method: (a) a crosslinkable polymer and a first solvent are mixed to form a stable solution which can be induced to phase separate; (b) the stable solution is induced to phase separate into a polymer concentrated phase and a polymer dilute phase; (c) the polymer is induced to crosslink in the polymer concentrated phase for a predetermined period of time thereby forming a microporous material; and (d) the microporous material is dried to produce the absorbent foam.