Patents by Inventor Kenji Miyaguchi

Kenji Miyaguchi has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method for producing polylactic acid
    Patent number: 9056946
    Abstract: To provide a method capable of producing stereocomplex polylactic acid, the method being capable of using carbon neutral materials that are not competitive from foods, such as saccharides, without the use of a method for designing optical resolution, which requires complicated operations and high cost and is difficult to perform mass production. The production method of the present invention comprises: a step of reacting glycerin with sodium hydroxide in high-temperature and high-pressure water to produce a racemic sodium lactate aqueous solution; a step of separating sodium from the racemic sodium lactate aqueous solution to recover racemic lactic acid; a step of dimerizing the racemic lactic acid to produce a lactide mixture containing meso lactide and racemic lactide; a step of separating meso lactide from the mixture to recover racemic lactide; and a step of polymerizing the racemic lactide with a salen-metal complex as a catalyst to produce stereocomplex polylactic acid.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 16, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 16, 2015
    Assignees: HITACHI ZOSEN CORPORATION, TOHOKU ELECTRIC POWER CO., INC., NATIONAL UNIVERSITY CORPORATION NAGOYA UNIVERSITY
    Inventors: Hisanori Kishida, Takashi Hasegawa, Kenji Miyaguchi, Takehiko Moriya, Nobuyoshi Nomura, Ryohei Ogawa
  • METHOD FOR PRODUCING POLYLACTIC ACID
    Publication number: 20130178598
    Abstract: To provide a method capable of producing stereocomplex polylactic acid, the method being capable of using carbon neutral materials that are not competitive from foods, such as saccharides, without the use of a method for designing optical resolution, which requires complicated operations and high cost and is difficult to perform mass production. The production method of the present invention comprises: a step of reacting glycerin with sodium hydroxide in high-temperature and high-pressure water to produce a racemic sodium lactate aqueous solution; a step of separating sodium from the racemic sodium lactate aqueous solution to recover racemic lactic acid; a step of dimerizing the racemic lactic acid to produce a lactide mixture containing meso lactide and racemic lactide; a step of separating meso lactide from the mixture to recover racemic lactide; and a step of polymerizing the racemic lactide with a salen-metal complex as a catalyst to produce stereocomplex polylactic acid.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 16, 2011
    Publication date: July 11, 2013
    Applicants: HITACHI ZOSEN CORPORATION, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY CORPORATION NAGOYA UNIVERSITY, TOHOKU ELECTRIC POWER CO., INC.
    Inventors: Hisanori Kishida, Takashi Hasegawa, Kenji Miyaguchi, Takehiko Moriya, Nobuyoshi Nomura, Ryohei Ogawa