Borate Additive Silicone Hydrogel Reactive Mixtures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Silicone hydrogel contact lens materials face challenges due to immiscible blends of silicone and hydrophilic monomers, which result in opaque materials unsuitable for contact lenses, and previous solutions do not effectively improve viscosity, curing rate, or mechanical properties.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a borate additive into the reaction mixture of hydrophilic and silicone components, which increases viscosity and reduces gel time while maintaining optical clarity, by forming borate esters that enhance crosslink density and polymerization rate.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If silicone monomers and hydrophilic monomers are blended to form silicone hydrogel contact lens material, then the material can provide both oxygen permeability and hydrophilicity, but the blends are immiscible and opaque making them unsuitable for contact lenses
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a compatibilizer molecule that contains both silicone-compatible and hydrophilic monomer-reactive groups as an intermediary substance. This compatibilizer mediates between the immiscible silicone and hydrophilic monomers, enabling them to blend uniformly while maintaining optical clarity and preventing phase separation during curing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a composite reaction mixture incorporating the compatibilizer along with silicone monomers, hydrophilic monomers, and crosslinking agents. This composite formulation achieves homogeneous mixing and stable composition by integrating multiple functional components that work synergistically to maintain miscibility and optical properties.
2Stability of the object's composition
If specialized diluents are used to address immiscibility, then optically clear lenses can be formed, but other characteristics such as viscosity, rate of curing, and mechanical properties are not improved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a multi-functional reaction mixture where the compatibilizer simultaneously addresses miscibility, optical clarity, and curing characteristics. The formulation includes multiple monomers and crosslinking agents that work together to achieve homogeneous mixing, maintain optical properties, and enable controlled curing at appropriate viscosity levels, making the system universally effective for contact lens fabrication.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the reaction mixture is formulated to achieve miscibility, then optically clear lenses can be produced, but the viscosity, curing rate, and mechanical properties remain suboptimal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent optimizes the formulation by carefully adjusting the ratios and concentrations of silicone monomers, hydrophilic monomers, compatibilizer, and crosslinking agents. By changing the compositional parameters within specific ranges, the patent achieves a balance where the reaction mixture maintains miscibility and optical clarity while attaining optimal viscosity for processing and reliable mechanical properties in the final lens product.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The addition of borate esters results in a faster curing process and improved optical clarity of silicone hydrogel contact lenses, enhancing their mechanical properties and miscibility of blend components.
Implementation Method 1
by forming borate esters that enhance crosslink density and polymerization rate
Implementation Method 2
curing a reaction mixture that includes at least one hydrophilic component, at least one silicone component and at least one borate additive
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed in this specification is a method for forming a silicone hydrogel material that is useful for forming contact lens materials. The method includes using an effective amount of a borate additive to reduce the gel time of the silicone hydrogel reactive mixture and/or enhance the optical properties of the resulting cured material.