Irritation Mitigating Polymers and Uses Therefor

Abstract

A method for increasing the efficacy of hydrophobically modified (meth)acrylic based polymers to increase the critical micelle concentration of a surfactant composition by attenuating the degree of neutralization (DN) of the polymer is disclosed.

1 . A method for increasing the critical micelle concentration of a surfactant composition comprising a hydrophobically modified (meth)acrylic polymer, said method comprises neutralizing said polymer to a degree of neutralization ranging from about 1 to about 50% based on the acid number of said polymer. 
     
     
         2 . A method of  claim 1  wherein said degree of neutralization ranges from about 5 to about 40% based on the acid number of said polymer. 
     
     
         3 . A method of  claim 1  wherein said degree of neutralization ranges from about 15 to about 30% based on the acid number of said polymer. 
     
     
         4 . A method of  claim 1  wherein said polymer is polymerized from a monomer composition comprising at least one monounsaturated carboxylic acid containing monomer and at least one hydrophobically modified, ethylenically unsaturated comonomer. 
     
     
         5 . A method of  claim 4  wherein said at least one monounsaturated carboxylic acid containing monomer is selected from (meth)acrylic acid, ethacrylic acid, itaconic acid, citraconic acid, mesaconic acid, glutaconic acid, fumaric acid, crotonic acid, maleic acid, aconitic acid, maleic anhydride, itaconic anhydride, citraconic anhydride, half esters of maleic acid, fumaric acid, itaconic acid, aconitic acid, maleic anhydride, itaconic anhydride, citraconic anhydride esterified with C 1  to C 30  alkanols; and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         6 . A method of  claim 4  wherein said at least one hydrophobically modified, ethylenically unsaturated comonomer is selected from a monomer represented by the formulae (I) and (II) and combinations thereof: 
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
       
       wherein R 3  represents hydrogen, methyl or ethyl; X represents oxygen or NH; and R 4  represents a C 1  to C 30  alkyl, C 5  to C 8  cycloalkyl, or aryl; and 
       
         
           
           
               
               
           
         
       
       wherein each R 5  is independently represents hydrogen, methyl, —C(O)OH, and —C(O)OR 6 ; R 6  is C 1  to C 30  alkyl; A is —CH 2 C(O)O—, —C(O)O—, —O—, —CH 2 O—, —NHC(O)NH—, —C(O)NH—, —Ar—(CE 2 ) z —NHC(O)O—, —Ar—(CE 2 ) z —NHC(O)NH—, and —CH 2 CH 2 NHC(O)—; Ar is a divalent aryl; E is H or methyl; z is 0 or 1; k is an integer in the range of 0 to about 30, and m is 0 or 1, with the proviso that when k is 0, m is 0, and when k is in the range of 1 to about 30, m is 1; (R 7 —O) n  is a polyoxyalkylene, which is a homopolymer, a random copolymer, or a block copolymer of C 2  to — 4  oxyalkylene units, wherein R 7  is —C 2 H 4 —, —C 3 H 6 —, —C 4 H 8 —, and n is an integer in the range of about 5 to about 250, Y is —R 4 O—, —R 4 NH—, —C(O)—, —C(O)NH—, —R 4 NHC(O)NH—, or —C(O)NHC(O)—; and R 8  is a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl selected from a C 8  to C 40  linear alkyl, a C 8  to C 40  branched alkyl, a C 8  to C 40  carbocyclic alkyl, a C 2  to C 40  alkyl-substituted phenyl, an aryl-substituted C 2  to C 40  alkyl, wherein the R 8  alkyl group optionally is substituted with one or more substituents selected from a hydroxyl group, an alkoxyl group, and a halogen group; R 8  can be selected from the residue of a polycyclic hydrocarbyl compound such as, for example, lanolin or cholesterol and residues of seed oils such as, for example, hydrogenated castor seed oil. 
     
     
         7 . A method of  claim 6  wherein said polymer is polymerized from a monomer composition further comprising a monomer selected from anionic, cationic, nonionic, amphoteric, and mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         8 . A method of  claim 6  wherein said polymer is polymerized from a monomer composition further comprising a crosslinking monomer.