3D-printable dissolvable polymer for unit-dose product forms
This technology is a water-soluble polyurethane polymer that can be used as the structural material in 3D-printed objects designed to dissolve when used. The polymer is synthesized from common building blocks (polyethylene glycol variants and a crosslinker) and can be loaded with active ingredients like fragrances, cleaning agents, or pharmaceuticals. A 3D printer builds the object voxel-by-voxel according to a digital design, and when the finished article contacts water in normal use, it dissolves and releases whatever benefit agent was embedded in it. This gives manufacturers precise control over object geometry, ingredient dosing, and dissolution rate in a single production step.
What you could build
Custom-geometry dissolvable products — laundry pods, single-dose personal care bars, or unit-dose drug delivery forms — 3D-printed on demand with precise active-ingredient placement; buyers would be consumer goods companies (Henkel, P&G), contract manufacturers, or specialty pharma firms seeking novel dosage forms.
Who in Virginia should care
Consumer packaged goods manufacturers or contract drug-delivery formulators with Virginia operations, and any Virginia-based advanced manufacturing or specialty chemicals firm exploring additive manufacturing of functional materials.
Readiness: Prototype likely
Concept — described but not yet demonstrated. Lab validated — supported by experimental results in the patent. Prototype likely — the text describes a built, working embodiment.
Readiness is inferred from the patent text, not from a lab visit.
The record
- Inventors
- Travis Kyle Hodgdon, Douglas Michael Graham, Freddy Arthur Barnabas, Corey James Kenneally, Christopher Bryant Williams, Callie Elizabeth Zawaski, Timothy E Long, Allison M Pekkanen, Benjamin Tyler White
- Granted
- August 15, 2023
- Status
- Granted patent
- Patent number
- 11723875
Ready to talk?
Virginia Tech Intellectual Properties handles licensing for this technology.
Prosim summaries are generated from public patent text and are not legal advice.