SBIR Phase II: Amphiphilic Copolymers as Thickening Agents for Personal Care Products

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project is significant. The purpose of this project is to create new ingredients which reduce the toxicity profile of personal care and cosmetics products. This project will achieve this by inventing and commercializing a new class of poly(ethylene glycol) PEG-free and 1,4 dioxane-free ingredients. The current, PEG- containing ingredients are highly sophisticated in their structure and function, however, PEG-base ingredients have been found to contain 1,4 dioxane residuals which are known to have a poor toxicity profile. In order to achieve a next generation PEG-free ingredient with improved performance, we will employ a new technique called atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). ATRP has proven to be a powerful method to produce polymers with improved structure, purity and function for a broad range of applications including cosmetics, biomaterials, home care, paints and adhesives. This technique, however, has also proven to be difficult to scale to commercial volumes. The result of this project will not only be improved thickeners for personal care and cosmetics products, but, it will also be a commercial process so that ATRP can be used to produce polymers with improved performance for broad market segments. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project includes work relevant to both the advancement of atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) technology (especially as it related to chemical engineering and scaling) and an advancement of the understanding of polymer structure and function for the field of rheology modifiers. Today, ATRP technology is commonly implemented using methods acceptable in the laboratory setting. In this project, we will be adapting ATRP to a scalable, efficient, cost effective industrial process. Multiple-step synthesis will be simplified to a one-pot process. The post-synthesis procedures will be optimized to save costs, eliminate toxic residuals and reduce the amount of waste generated. The result of this work will be carry with them significant intellectual merits applicable to scaling any polymer produced by ATRP technology. This project will also deepen understanding of structure to function relationships for this new class of rheology modifiers. This knowledge will not only enable commercialization of new and improved ingredients for personal care and cosmetics, but, it will also enable new high performance polymers for many new products.