Methods of making doubly porous device
First Claim
1. A method of forming a device having a first porous portion having continuously interconnected pores and a second porous portion having continuously interconnected pores, said method comprising the steps of:
- (a) obtaining an open-cell porous mold form corresponding to the first porous portion, said open-cell porous mold form comprising particles formed into a mass of continuously interconnected particles and shaped and solidified to thereby define continuously interconnected pores and connecting interstices within said first porous portion;
(b) selectively forming a stable coating layer upon the surface of the particles of said mold form to thereby define continuously interconnected pores and connecting interstices within the second porous portion, said stable coating layer being formed by the steps of;
i) selectively filling said pores and interstices of said open-cell porous mold form with a selected coating material such that the open-cell porous mold form mass is maintained;
ii) selectively removing a substantial portion of said coating material such that a continuous coating of a selected thickness remains upon the particles of said open-cell porous mold form; and
iii) solidifying said coating material; and
(c) selectively removing the open-cell porous mold form such that the stable coating layer defines a membrane separating the first porous portion and the second porous portion of said device.
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Abstract
The present invention is directed to methods of forming doubly porous devices having a first porous portion with continuously interconnected pores and a second porous portion with continuously interconnected pores utilizing at least one removable open-cell porous mold form. The mold form is made from a selected material comprising particles having predetermined sizes and shapes which is capable of forming a stable mold form under selected conditions and of being removed under selected conditions. At least one stable coating layer is molded from the mold form to define a membrane separating the first porous portion and the second porous portion of said device. Alternatively, two different materials can be molded with the mold form into a doubly porous device comprising interlocked materials.
127 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method of forming a device having a first porous portion having continuously interconnected pores and a second porous portion having continuously interconnected pores, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) obtaining an open-cell porous mold form corresponding to the first porous portion, said open-cell porous mold form comprising particles formed into a mass of continuously interconnected particles and shaped and solidified to thereby define continuously interconnected pores and connecting interstices within said first porous portion; (b) selectively forming a stable coating layer upon the surface of the particles of said mold form to thereby define continuously interconnected pores and connecting interstices within the second porous portion, said stable coating layer being formed by the steps of; i) selectively filling said pores and interstices of said open-cell porous mold form with a selected coating material such that the open-cell porous mold form mass is maintained; ii) selectively removing a substantial portion of said coating material such that a continuous coating of a selected thickness remains upon the particles of said open-cell porous mold form; and iii) solidifying said coating material; and (c) selectively removing the open-cell porous mold form such that the stable coating layer defines a membrane separating the first porous portion and the second porous portion of said device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method of forming a device having a first porous portion with continuously interconnected pores and a second porous portion with continuously interconnected pores, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) obtaining an open-cell porous mold form comprising particles formed into a mass of continuously interconnected particles and shaped and solidified to thereby define continuously interconnected pores and connecting interstices; (b) selectively filling the pores and interstices of said mold form with a first selected moldable material such that the mold form mass is maintained; (c) solidifying said first selected moldable material, said material being selectively permeable upon solidification; (d) selectively removing said mold form such the configuration of the solidified first moldable material is maintained to thereby form a partial device having a porous portion comprising continuously interconnected pores and connecting interstices; (e) selectively filling said pores and interstices of said partial device with a second selected moldable material; and (f) solidifying said second selected moldable material to thereby form a device comprising interlocked materials defining a first porous portion and a second porous portion wherein each porous portion comprises continuously interconnected pores.
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Specification