Patent ID: 8623931

Claim:
A polyurethane foam comprising a reaction product of a mixture comprising: (a) an isocyanate-based reactant; (b) an optional isocyanate-reactive compound; and (c) an isolated, water-soluble polypeptide composition that is capable of stabilizing a polyurethane-based foam, wherein the composition comprises one or more of the following features: (a) an amide-I absorption band between about 1633 cm −1 and 1680 cm −1 , as determined by solid state FTIR; (b) an amide-II band between approximately 1522 cm −1 and 1560 cm −1 , as determined by solid state FTIR; (c) two prominent 1° amide N—H stretch absorption bands centered at about 3200 cm −1 , and at about 3300 cm −1 , as determined by solid state FTIR; (d) a prominent cluster of protonated nitrogen nuclei defined by 15 N chemical shift boundaries at about 94 ppm and at about 100 ppm, and 1 H chemical shift boundaries at about 7.6 ppm and at about 8.1 ppm, as determined by solution state, two-dimensional proton-nitrogen coupled NMR; (e) an average molecular weight of between about 600 and about 2,500Daltons; (f) an inability to stabilize an oil-in-water emulsion, wherein, when an aqueous solution comprising 14 parts by weight of protein dissolved or dispersed in 86 parts by weight of water is admixed with 14 parts by weight of PMDI, the aqueous solution and the PMDI produce an unstable suspension that macroscopically phase separates under static conditions within five minutes after mixing; (g) the water-soluble polypeptide composition is capable of stabilizing a polyurethane-based foam relative to a polyurethane-based foam created from the same starting composition lacking the water soluble protein composition; or (h) the water-soluble polypeptide composition is capable of reducing the density of a polyurethane-based foam by at least 5% relative to a polyurethane-based foam created from the same starting composition lacking the water-soluble polypeptide composition; wherein the foam is substantially free of water-insoluble/water dispersible polypeptides.