Polymeric surfactant compositions and methods of manufacture and use

Abstract

Durable polymeric surfactants for imparting capillarity to a synthetic textile fiber or nonwoven synthetic textile are provided The polymeric surfactants do not tend to readily wash off the textile after repeated contact with aqueous fluids. The polymeric surfactant compositions include compounds that are a reaction product of polyhydroxycarboxylic acid having a molecular weight from about 600 daltons to about 2,100 daltons and an end-capped polyalkylethylene glycol having a molecular weight from about 300 daltons to about 5,000 daltons. The polymeric surfactant compositions may also include compounds that are a reaction product of polyhydroxycarboxylic acids having a molecular weight from about 600 daltons to about 2,100 daltons and polyalkylethylene glycols having a molecular weight from about 200 daltons to about 3,200 daltons.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A method for providing capillarity to a synthetic hydrophobic textile comprising: 
 applying an A-B block polymer to the textile; wherein the A-B block polymer is a reaction product of polyhydroxycarboxylic acid having a molecular weight from about 600 daltons to about 2,100 daltons and an end-capped polyalkylethylene glycol having a molecular weight from about 300 daltons to about 5,000 daltons;    wherein the polyhydroxycarboxylic acid comprises compounds that are a reaction product of a monocarboxylic acid having the following formula:    R 3 —COOH,  where R 3  is C 1  to C 20  hydrocarbon group,      and a hydroxycarboxylic acid of the following formula:                        where R 4  is hydrogen or a C 1  to C 12  hydrocarbon group,    and z is from 0 to about 12; and      the end-capped polyalkylethylene glycol comprises compounds of the following formula:                        where R 1  is hydrogen or a C 1  to C 6  alkyl;    R 2  is a C 1  to C 6  alkyl;    and x is an integer from about 5 to about 90.      
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the molecular weight of the polyhydroxycarboxylic acid is from about 300 daltons to about 1,000 daltons.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the molecular weight of the polyhydroxycarboxylic acid is from about 350 daltons to about 750 daltons.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the molecular weight of the end-capped polyalkylethylene glycol is from about 1,300 daltons to about 1,700 daltons.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the molecular weight of the end-capped polyalkylethylene glycol is from about 1,450 daltons to about 1,550 daltons.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the polyhydroxycarboxylic acid is a polyhydroxystearic acid and wherein the monocarboxylic acid is stearic acid, where R 3  is CH 3 (CH 2 ) 5 CH 2 (CH 2 ) 10 , and the hydroxycarboxylic acid is 12-hydroxystearic acid, where R 4  is CH 3 (CH 2 ) 5  and z is 10.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the end-capped polyalkylethylene glycol is a methoxy polyethylene glycol and wherein R 1  is hydrogen and R 2  is methyl.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein x is from about 6 to about 83.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein x is from about 6 to about 16.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , where x is from about 7 to about 12.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the molecular weight of the polyhydroxycarboxylic acid is from about 350 daltons to about 750 daltons and the molecular weight of the end-capped polyalkylethylene glycol is from about 1,450 daltons to about 1,550 daltons.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the textile is a nonwoven textile.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the textile is a polyolefin textile.  
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the A-B block polymer, when applied to the textile, reduces a fabric-to-metal coefficient of friction to less than about 0.9.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the A-B block polymer, when applied to the textile, and has a durable capillarity of less than 5 seconds on multiple insult strike-through Lister tests.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the durable capillarity is less than five seconds after a multiple of at least five insult strike-through Lister tests.  
     
     
         17 . A method for providing capillarity to a synthetic hydrophobic textile comprising: 
 applying an A-B block polymer to the textile; wherein the A-B block polymer comprises compounds of the following formula:                          wherein R is hydrogen or a substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group;    a is from about 2 to about 8;    b is from about 8 to about 14;    a +b is from about 10 to about 22;    n is an integer from about 2 to about 10;    R 1  is hydrogen or a C 1  to C 6  alkyl;    R 2  is a C 1  to C 6  alkyl; and    x is an integer from about 5 to about 90.    
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein R is a C 12  to C 18  fatty acid.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , the A-B block polymer includes a polyhydroxystearic acid residue, where a equals 5, b equals 10 and R is CH 3 —(CH 2 ) 5 —CHOH—(CH 2 ) 10 —C═O.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein n is from about 4 to about 8.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein n is from about 5 to about 7.  
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein n is about 6.  
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the A-B block polymer includes a methoxy polyethylene glycol, where R 1  is hydrogen and R 2  is methyl.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein x is from about 6 to about 16.  
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein x is from about 7 to about 12.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein x is from about 7 to about 12 and n is from about 5 to about 7.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the textile is a nonwoven textile.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the textile is a polyolefin textile.  
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the A-B block polymer, when applied to the textile, reduces a fabric-to-metal coefficient of friction to less than about 0.9.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the A-B block polymer, when applied to the textile, and has a durable capillarity of less than 5 seconds on multiple insult strike-through Lister tests.  
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the durable capillarity is less than five seconds after a multiple of at least five insult strike-through Lister tests.  
     
     
         32 . A method for providing capillarity to a synthetic hydrophobic textile comprising: 
 (i) applying an A-B-A block polymeric surfactant comprising compounds which are a reaction product of a polyhydroxycarboxylic acid having a molecular weight from about 600 daltons to about 2,100 daltons, defining the A portion of the polymer and a polyalkylethylene glycol having a molecular weight from about 200 daltons to about 3,200 daltons, defining the B portion of the polymer;    wherein the polyhydroxycarboxylic acid comprises compounds of the following formula:                        wherein R is hydrogen or a substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group;    c is from about 2 to about 8;    d is from about 8 to about 14;    c+d is from about 10 to about 22;    m is an integer from about 1 to about 10; and      wherein the polyalkylethylene glycol comprise compounds of the following formula:                        wherein R 1  is hydrogen or C 1  to C 6  alkyl;    and y is an integer from about 2 to about 100.      
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the molecular weight of the polyhydroxycarboxylic acid is from about 1,250 daltons to about 1,750 daltons.  
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the molecular weight of the polyalkylethylene glycol is from about 600 daltons to about 1,500 daltons.  
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the molecular weight of the polyhydroxycarboxylic acid is from about 1,250 daltons to about 1,750 daltons and the molecular weight of the polyalkylethylene glycol is from about 600 daltons to about 1,500 daltons.  
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the A-B-A block polymer includes a polyhydroxystearic acid residue, where c equals 5, d equals 10 and R is CH 3 —(CH 2 ) 5 —CHOH-(CH 2 ) 10 —C═O.  
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the polyalkylethylene glycol is a hydroxy polyethylene glycol and wherein R 1  is hydrogen.  
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 32 , wherein the A-B-A block polymer includes a polyhydroxystearic acid residue, where c equals 5, d equals 10 and R is CH 3 —(CH 2 ) 5 —CHOH—(CH 2 ) 10 —C═O, and the polyalkylethylene glycol is a hydroxy polyethylene glycol and wherein R 1  is hydrogen.  
     
     
         39 . A textile finishing composition for imparting capillarity to a synthetic textile comprising: 
 a block copolymer having alternating hydrophilic polyoxyalkylene glycol blocks and hydrophobic polyhydroxycarboxylic acid blocks, the hydrophilic blocks function to provide a wicking action of aqueous liquids on a synthetic textile fiber, the hydrophobic blocks function to repel aqueous fluids from the synthetic textile fabric, wherein the hydrophilic blocks are present in amounts which provide the composition with a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance of about 2 to about 16;    wherein the composition, when applied to a synthetic textile, has a fabric-to-metal coefficient of less than about 0.9 and has durable capillarity of less than 5 seconds for multiple insults on multiple strike-through Lister tests.    
     
     
         40 . The textile finishing composition of  claim 39 , wherein the block polymer comprises compounds of the following formula:  
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
         wherein R is hydrogen or a substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group;  
         a is from about 2 to about 8;  
         b is from about 8 to about 14;  
         a+b is from about 10 to about 22;  
         n is an integer from about 2 to about 10;  
         R 1  is hydrogen or a C 1  to C 6  alkyl;  
         R 2  is a C 1  to C 6  alkyl; and  
         x is an integer from about 5 to about 90.  
       
     
     
         41 . The textile finishing composition of  claim 39 , wherein the block polymer comprises compounds of the following formula:  
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
       
       wherein R or R″, which can be the same or different, is hydrogen or a substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group; 
 c or c″, which can be the same or different, is from about 2 to about 8;  
 d or d″, which can be the same or different, is from about 8 to about 14;  
 c+d or c″+d″, which can be the same or different, is from about 10 to about 22;  
 m or m″, which can be the same or different, is an integer from about 1 to about 10;  
 R 1  is hydrogen or a C 1  to C 6  alkyl; and  
 y is an integer from about 2 to about 100.  
 
     
     
         42 . A nonwoven textile article comprising: 
 a synthetic textile fiber; and    a A-B or a A-B-A block copolymer having alternating hydrophilic polyoxyalkylene glycol blocks and hydrophobic polyhydroxycarboxylic acid blocks, the hydrophilic blocks function to provide a wicking action of aqueous liquids on the synthetic textile fiber, the hydrophobic blocks function to repel aqueous fluids from the synthetic textile fiber, wherein the hydrophilic blocks are present in amounts which provide the composition with a hydrophilic-lipophilic balance of about 2 to about 16;    wherein the A-B block polymer comprises compounds of the following formula:                        wherein R is hydrogen or a substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group;    a is from about 2 to about 8;    b is from about 8 to about 14;    a+b is from about 10 to about 22;    n is an integer from about 2 to about 10;    R 1  is hydrogen or a C 1  to C 6  alkyl;    R 2  is a C 1  to C 6  alkyl;    x is an integer from about 5 to about 90; and      wherein the A-B-A the block polymer comprises compounds of the following formula:                        wherein R or R″, which can be the same or different, is hydrogen or a substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group;    c or c″, which can be the same or different, is from about 2 to about 8;    d or d″, which can be the same or different, is from about 8 to about 14;    c+d or c″+d″, which can be the same or different, is from about 10 to about 22;    m or m″, which can be the same or different, is an integer from about 1 to about 10;    R 1  is hydrogen or a C 1  to C 6  alkyl; and    y is an integer from about 2 to about 100.      
     
     
         43 . The nonwoven textile article of  claim 42 , wherein the synthetic textile fiber is a polyolefin textile fiber.  
     
     
         44 . The nonwoven textile article of  claim 43 , wherein the polyolefin textile fiber is a polypropylene textile fiber.  
     
     
         45 . The nonwoven textile article of  claim 42 , wherein article is selected from the group consisting of a diaper, a feminine hygiene product, or an adult incontinence product.