Patent ID: 8173750

Claim:
A star macromolecule represented by Formula X: [(P1) q1 -(P2) q2 ] t -Core-[(P3) q3 ] r Formula X wherein: Core represents a crosslinked polymeric segment; P1 represents a homopolymeric segment comprised of repeat units of monomeric residues of polymerized hydrophobic monomers; P2 represents a homopolymeric segment comprised of repeat units of monomeric residues of polymerized hydrophilic monomers; P3 represents a homopolymeric segment comprised of repeat units of monomeric residues of polymerized hydrophilic monomers; q1 represents the number of repeat units in P1 and has a value between 1 and 50; q2 represents the number of repeat units in P2 and has a value between 30 and 500; q3 represents the number of repeat units in P3 and has a value between 30 and 500; r represents the number of homopolymeric arms covalently attached to the Core; t represents the number of copolymeric arms covalently attached to the Core; and wherein the molar ratio of r to t is in the range of between 20:1 and 2:1.