Patent ID: RE44145

Claim:
A method of preparing an adhesive composition having an optimized degree of adhesion, comprising: (a) preparing a plurality of compositions each comprised of a hydrophilic polymer having a glass transition temperature T g pol admixed with a plasticizer miscible therewith and having a glass transition temperature T g pl and capable of covalently or noncovalently crosslinking the hydrophilic polymer, wherein the weight fraction of the hydrophilic polymer in each composition is w pol , and the weight fraction of the plasticizer in each composition is w pl ; (b) calculating predicted glass temperatures T g predicted for each composition using the Fox equation (1) 1 T g ⁢ ⁢ predicted = w pol T g pol + w pl T g pl ( 1 ) and plotting T g predicted versus w pl for each composition; (c) determining the glass transition temperature T g actual for each composition, and plotting T g actual versus w pl for each composition; (d) identifying the region of the plots of (b) and (c) wherein T g actual is less than T g predicted ; such that there is a negative deviation from T g predicted ; (e) within the region identified in (d), identifying the optimum weight fraction of plasticizer w pl optimum at which the negative deviation from T g predicted is at a maximum; and (f) admixing a monomeric precursor to the hydrophilic polymer and the plasticizer under polymerizing conditions to provide an adhesive composition having an optimized degree of adhesion, wherein the weight fraction of plasticizer in the composition is w pl optimum , and the weight fraction of the hydrophilic polymer in the composition is 1-w pl optimum .