Thermoplastic Polyurethane Film for Oral Care Agent Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional oral care products face challenges in mixing and stability issues between adhesives and whitening agents, leading to undesirable reactions and structural integrity problems, while hydrogel manufacturing requires excessive water and time.
Innovation Solution
A hydrophilic, aliphatic, polyether-based thermoplastic polyurethane film is developed, incorporating a hydrophilic polymer and oligomer, which absorbs and desorbs oral care agents, providing exceptional structural integrity and flexibility, and can be manufactured with minimal water using extrusion or solution casting processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If conventional hydrogel manufacturing uses large amounts of water to dissolve polymers, then the polymers can be dispersed, but the water content exceeds 90% and extra time and resources are required for evaporation
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the fundamental parameter of water content from >90% to <10% by using a novel polymer composition system. The thermoplastic polyurethane, hydrophilic polymer, and oligomer form a gel structure that requires minimal water, eliminating the need for extensive evaporation processes and reducing manufacturing time significantly.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention uses a composite material system comprising thermoplastic polyurethane, hydrophilic polymer, and oligomer. This composite approach allows the formation of a functional gel structure with low water content, avoiding the conventional single-polymer-in-water approach that requires excessive water for dissolution.
2Adaptability or versatility
If adhesives and whitening agents are mixed in conventional oral care products, then both functions are provided, but they react undesirably and cannot provide desired structural integrity
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the oral care product into distinct functional layers: a structural adhesive layer and a whitening agent layer. This segmentation prevents unwanted chemical reactions between the adhesive and whitening agent while maintaining both functions. The layers are applied at different times or in different sequences, ensuring chemical stability while achieving multi-functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The adhesive layer is applied first to establish structural integrity and bonding to the substrate. Only after the adhesive has set does the whitening agent layer get applied. This preliminary action sequence prevents chemical incompatibility while ensuring both the adhesive and whitening agent perform their intended functions effectively.
3Quantity of substance
If conventional techniques evaporate water to achieve lower water content hydrogel, then water content is reduced, but extra time and resources are required
Solution Approach 1:
The invention fundamentally changes the water content parameter from conventional high levels (>90%) to low levels (<10%) through the use of a novel polymer-oligomer gel system. This parameter change eliminates the need for energy-intensive evaporation processes, thereby improving manufacturing efficiency and productivity while achieving the desired low water content.
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 film maintains mechanical strength, absorbs and releases oral care agents effectively, ensuring a stable and efficient delivery of whitening agents, improving the structural integrity and manufacturing efficiency of oral care products.
Implementation Method 1
The film readily absorbs or otherwise uptakes oral care agents
Implementation Method 2
The film readily desorbs or releases those agents for direct application to surfaces to which the film is applied
Data Source
AI summary
An oral care composition including a hydrophilic, aliphatic, polyether-based thermoplastic polyurethane, a glycol polymer, and a poly(N-vinyl lactam). These components form a tacky film having a thickness of about 1 mils to about 50 mils. A whitening agent, such as a peroxide, can be absorbed into the tacky film, and adapted to desorb from the tacky film to whiten teeth to which the film is joined. A method is also provided in which the components are extruded through a twin screw extruder and output to a die to produce the film. The whitening agent can be deposited on the film and absorbed by the film to form a relatively stable oral care composition including the whitening agent.