Patent ID: 8524259

Claim:
A composition which comprises an end cap crystalline (ECC) polymer and a release material associated with the ECC polymer, the release material being (1) one or more bioactive materials which are useful in agricultural applications and which are selected from the group consisting of fertilizers, biocides, insecticides and fungicides or (2) one or more additives which are useful in personal care compositions and which are selected from the group consisting of UV absorbers, fragrances, biocides, antimicrobial agents, germicides, antioxidants, preservatives, disinfectants, enzymes, nutrients and minerals, wherein the ECC polymer (A) comprises a plurality of polymeric molecules each of which consists essentially of (i) a polymer backbone which comprises a plurality of repeating units having the formula —CF 1 F 2 —CO—O— (1) wherein F 1 is hydrogen and F 2 is hydrogen or methyl, the repeating units being the same or different, and (ii) at least one terminal unit which has the formula -b-Cy (2) the Cy moieties in said terminal units providing at least 50% by weight of the Cy moieties in the polymeric molecules, and Cy being a moiety which is (a) associated with other Cy moieties to provide the ECC polymer with crystallinity and (b) is a moiety which consists of (i) an n-alkyl moiety containing 14-50 carbon atoms, or (ii) a moiety which consists of an n-alkyl moiety containing 14-50 carbon atoms and a polyoxyalkylene moiety, and b is a bond or a moiety which has a valence of at least 2, which links the Cy moiety to the polymer backbone and which optionally contains additional Cy moieties; wherein each terminal unit having formula (2) is a moiety selected from the group consisting of (2A) moieties (i) in which b is a bond, (ii) which have the formula —Cy and (iii) which are directly linked to the terminal —CO—O—moiety of one of the repeating units having formula (1), (2B) moieties (i) in which b is a moiety having the formula —O—CO—, (ii) which have the formula —O—CO-Cy and (iii) which are directly linked to the terminal —CF 1 F 2 —moiety of one of the repeating units having formula (1), and (2C) moieties (i) in which b is a moiety having the formula —R pbalc —O—CO—, (ii) which have the formula —R pbalc —O—CO-Cy where R pbalc is the residue of a polyol of and (iii) which are directly linked to the terminal —CO—O—moiety of one of the repeating units having formula (1); and (B) has a crystalline melting temperature, Tp, of at least 0° C. and a heat of fusion, ΔH, of at least 3 J/g which result from association of the Cy moieties, Tp and ΔH being measured on a differential scanning calorimeter.