Polyester block compatibilizer for polyethylene polypropylene blends

• US 10,450,450 B2
• Filed: 05/18/2016
• Issued: 10/22/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 05/22/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SABIC Global Technologies BV (Government of Saudi Arabia)
• Original Assignee: SABIC Global Technologies BV (Government of Saudi Arabia)
• Inventors: Duchateau, Robbert, Jasinska-Walc, Lidia, Bouyahyi, Miloud, Lovera, Deliani, Soliman, Maria
• Primary Examiner(s): Mullis, Jeffrey C
• Application Number:
  US15/576,339
• Publication Number:
  US 20180163035A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,252 Days
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 2205/08 containing additives to improve the compatibility between two polymers
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 2207/062 HDPE
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 2207/064 VLDPE
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 2207/066 LDPE (radical process)
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 2207/10 Peculiar tacticity
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 23/06 Polyethene
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 23/12 Polypropene
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 51/006 grafted on to block copolymers containing at least one sequence of polymer obtained by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 53/00 Compositions of block copolymers containing at least one sequence of a polymer obtained by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds; Compositions of derivatives of such polymers
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 53/005 Modified block copolymers
• CPC Class Codes: C08L 67/06 Unsaturated polyesters

Abstract

The present invention relates to a composition comprising polypropylene, polyethylene and a compatibiliser, wherein said compatibiliser is a block copolymer comprising a polypropylene block and a polyester block, said polyester being a non-aromatic polyester and having an average M/E ratio of at least 10, wherein M is the number of backbone carbon atoms in the polyester not including the carbonyl carbons and E is the number of ester groups in the polyester.

Claims

1. A composition comprising polypropylene, polyethylene and a compatibiliser, wherein said compatibiliser is a block copolymer comprising a polypropylene block and a polyester block, said polyester being a non-aromatic polyester and having an average M/E ratio of at least 10, wherein M is the number of backbone carbon atoms in the polyester not including the carbonyl carbons and E is the number of ester groups in the polyester.

2. The composition of claim 1 wherein the compatibiliser is an AB or BAB type block copolymer with A representing polypropylene and B representing polyester, or a graft block copolymer of structure AB_n having a polypropylene backbone with n polyester branches grafted thereon, n being at least 1.

3. The composition of claim 1 wherein the number of backbone carbon atoms between two neighboring ester groups in the backbone is randomly distributed over the polyester.

4. The composition of claim 1 wherein the polyester has an average M/E ratio of at least 20.

5. The composition of claim 1 wherein the amount of polypropylene is from 5-95 wt. % on the basis of the total amount of polyethylene and polypropylene.

6. The composition of claim 1 wherein the amount of compatibiliser is from 0.5-10 wt. % on the basis of the sum of the amount of polypropylene and polyethylene.

7. The composition of any claim 1 wherein said polypropylene is one or more of:

a propylene homopolymer,

a propylene—

α

-olefin random copolymer,

a propylene—

α

-olefin block copolymer,

a heterophasic polypropylene copolymer comprising a matrix phase and a disperse phase, the matrix phase consisting of a propylene homopolymer and/or a propylene copolymer with up to 3 wt. % of ethylene and/or at least one C₄-C₈ α

-olefin, the wt. % being based on the matrix phase, and the disperse phase consisting of an ethylene—

C₃-C₈ α

-olefin copolymer.

8. The composition of claim 1 wherein said polyethylene is a very low density polyethylene, linear low density polyethylene, low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene or a mixture of any of the foregoing polyethylenes.

9. The composition of claim 1 wherein the compatibiliser has a number average molecular weight of from 5000 to 250000 g/mol.

10. The composition of claim 1 wherein in the compatibiliser the polyester is selected from one or more selected from the group consisting of polytetradecalactone, polypentadecalactone, polyhexadecalactone, poly(caprolactone-co-pentadecalactone), poly(ε

-decalactone-co-pentadecalactone), poly(ethylene brassylate-co-pentadecalactone), poly[ethylene-1,19-nonadecanedioate], poly[ethylene-1,23-tricosanedioate], poly[propylene-1,19-nonadecanedioate], poly[propylene-1,23-tricosanedioate], poly[1,4-butadiyl-1,19-nonadecanedioate], poly[1,4-butadiyl-1,23-tricosanedioate], poly[1,6-hexadiyl-1,19-nonadecanedioate], poly[1,6-hexadiyl-1,23-tricosanedioate], poly[1,19-nonadecadiyl-1,19-nonadecanedioate], poly[1,19-nonadecadiyl-1,23-tricosanedioate], poly[1,23-tricosadiyl-1,19-nonadecanedioate], poly[1,23-tricosadiyl-1,23-tricosanedioate], poly[1,20-icosadiyl-1,20-icosa-nedioate], poly[1,6-hexadiyl-1,20-icosenedionate], poly[propylene-1,20-icosanedionate].

11. The composition of claim 1 wherein the polypropylene block of the compatibiliser is a propylene homopolymer block or a propylene copolymer block containing at least 90 wt. % of polypropylene, on the basis of the weight of the polypropylene block.

12. An article comprising the composition of claim 1.

13. The article of claim 12, said article being selected from the group consisting of automotive interior articles, automotive exterior articles, household appliances, pipes, films, sheets.

14. The composition of any claim 7 wherein said polypropylene comprises a propylene ethylene or a propylene C₄-C₈ α

-olefin random copolymer.

15. A composition comprising polypropylene, polyethylene and a compatibiliser, wherein said compatibiliser is a block copolymer comprising a polypropylene block and a polyester block, said polyester being a non-aromatic polyester and having an average M/E ratio of at least 50, wherein M is the number of backbone carbon atoms in the polyester not including the carbonyl carbons and E is the number of ester groups in the polyester, and wherein the amount of polypropylene is from 5-95 wt. % and the amount of compatibiliser is from 5-10 wt. %, on the basis of the sum of the amount of polypropylene and polyethylene.