Stabilizing Antimicrobial Silanol Quaternary Ammonium Compounds

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Solution Overview

Problem

Aqueous silanol quaternary ammonium compounds (SQACs) are unstable and have a short shelf life due to premature sedimentation and viscosity increases, complicating coating methods, and existing stabilization strategies often introduce toxicity and cost issues.

Innovation Solution

The use of naturally derived, volatile phytochemical essential oils as stabilizers, which are renewable, non-toxic, and evaporate completely during coating, forming stable and clear microemulsions with SQACs without altering their cationic charge density.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If stabilizers such as simple sugars or surfactant additives are introduced to extend storage life of aqueous SQACs, then storage stability is improved, but toxicity and cost increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestorage stabilityVSAvoidtoxicity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent employs volatile essential oils as stabilizers that are inexpensive, naturally derived, and completely evaporate during coating operations. These essential oils provide temporary stabilization during storage but leave no harmful residue on the final coated surface, effectively using a disposable stabilizer approach that eliminates long-term toxicity concerns while maintaining storage stability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #27Cheap short-living objects (Disposable)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the chemical parameters of the stabilization approach by using volatile phytochemical essential oils with specific molecular characteristics rather than traditional surfactants or sugars. This parameter change—selecting compounds with high volatility and natural biodegradability—resolves the contradiction by providing stability during storage while eliminating harmful effects in the final application.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Duration of action of stationary object

If stabilizers are introduced to prevent premature homopolymerization of SQACs, then shelf life is extended, but the composition becomes more complex and costly

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveshelf lifeVSAvoidcomposition complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Duration of action of stationary objectVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The essential oil stabilizers serve as temporary protective agents during storage that are completely volatilized during coating operations. This disposable approach extends shelf life without permanently complicating the final composition, as the stabilizers leave no residue and require no complex removal or neutralization steps.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #27Cheap short-living objects (Disposable)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent extracts and utilizes only the volatile phytochemical components of essential oils for stabilization purposes, separating this functional property from the bulk oil. This extraction approach allows using simple, naturally occurring compounds for stabilization while maintaining composition simplicity in the final applied coating.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Reliability

If conventional stabilization strategies are used, then storage stability is improved, but environmental safety and non-toxicity are compromised

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestorage stabilityVSAvoidenvironmental harm

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The volatile essential oils act as temporary stabilizers during storage that completely evaporate during coating, leaving no harmful environmental residue. This disposable stabilizer strategy achieves storage stability while maintaining environmental safety, as the stabilizers are naturally derived and fully volatilized before the coating is applied.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #27Cheap short-living objects (Disposable)

Solution Approach 2:

The essential oils create a protective volatile atmosphere around the SQAC molecules during storage, preventing premature polymerization through physical interaction rather than chemical reaction. This inert-like protective environment is temporary and completely dissipates during coating, ensuring environmental safety while providing storage stability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #39Inert atmosphere (Inert environment)

Data Source

PatentUS10531664B2Water stable antimicrobial silanol quaternary ammonium compounds

Publication Date: 2020.01.14 NOVALENT LTD

AI summary

A method of stabilizing aqueous solutions of antimicrobial silanol quaternary ammonium compounds (SQACs) from premature polymerization where the stabilizing agent is selected from a list of antimicrobial, naturally occurring, renewable, volatile, liquid phytochemical essential oils that easily form crystal clear microemulsions when water is added to the concentrated SQAC/essential oil mixture. These non-foaming oil-in-water microemulsions have excellent long term storage stability, remain very low in viscosity and do not phase or precipitate for many months. Many essential oils found to be useful in this process are non-toxic food additives having pleasant scents, have low flammability yet are volatile enough to evaporate upon cure down of the SQAC, resulting in a higher concentration of SQAC in the cured, antimicrobial film. Economically shippable concentrations of stabilized SQACs can be further diluted with water to application concentrations without losing any stabilizing properties and remain storage stable at these lower concentrations indefinitely.