Formaldehyde-free sizing composition for fibres, in particular mineral fibres, and resulting products

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10233115-B2
Application number	US-201214119628-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 25, 2012
Priority date	May 25, 2011
Publication date	Mar 19, 2019
Grant date	Mar 19, 2019

Abstract

A formaldehyde-free sizing composition for products based on fibers, in particular mineral fibers, such as glass or rock fibers, which includes: at least one non-reducing sugar, at least one catalyst for the dehydration of the non-reducing sugar, at least one amine, and at least one compound including activated ethylenic unsaturation(s).

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. Formaldehyde-free sizing composition for fibres, comprising:
at least one non-reducing sugar,
at least one inorganic dehydration catalyst for the dehydration of the non-reducing sugar, wherein the at least one inorganic dehydration catalyst is selected from the group consisting of a sulphate of a transition metal, a sulphate of a poor metal, an ammonium sulphate, and any mixture thereof,
at least one amine, and
at least one compound comprising activated ethylenic unsaturation(s), wherein the compound comprising activated ethylenic unsaturation(s) corresponds to the following formula (IV):

in which:
R 3 represents a hydrogen atom, a C 1 -C 5 alkyl group, a hydroxyl group or a C 1 -C 5 alkoxy group,
R 4 and R 5 , which are identical or different, represent a hydrogen atom, a C 1 -C 5 alkyl group or a —CO—R 3 group, and
R 6 represents a hydrogen atom or a hydrocarbon chain which can include one or more heteroatoms.

2. Composition according to claim 1 , wherein the non-reducing sugar is an oligosaccharide including at most 10 saccharide units.

3. Composition according to claim 2 , wherein the non-reducing sugar is a di-, tri-, tetra- or pentasaccharide.

4. Composition according to claim 1 , wherein the non-reducing sugar is trehalose, isotrehaloses, sucrose, melezitose, gentianose, raffinose, erlose, umbelliferose, stachyose or verbascose.

5. Composition according to claim 1 , wherein the amount of inorganic dehydration catalyst for the dehydration of the non-reducing sugar represents from 1 to 30% of the weight of the non-reducing sugar.

6. Composition according to claim 1 , wherein the amine corresponds to the following formula (I):
R-A-NHR 1   (I)

in which:
R is equal to H, OH, NHR 1 or —NR 1 ,
A represents an optionally branched alkylene, arylalkylene, arylene or alkylarylene group, a —CO— group or a group of following formula (II):

in which:
X is equal to —O— or —NR 2 —
with R 2 equal to H, —(CH 2 ) z —NH 2 or a divalent —(CH 2 ) t — group which forms, with a neighbouring nitrogen atom, a ring comprising 6 atoms,

x, y, z and t vary from 1 to 5,
n is equal to 1, 2, 3 or 4,

R 1 is a hydrogen atom or a C 1 to C 5 hydroxyalkyl group.

7. Composition according to claim 6 , wherein the amine is selected from the group consisting of monoethanolamine, diethanolamine, urea, diethylenetriamine (DETA), triethylenetetramine (TETA), tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA), pentaethylenehexamine (PEHA), aminoethyltriethylenetetramine (AETETA), N″-(aminoethyl)tetraethylenepentamine and N′-(aminoethyl)tetraethylenepentamine (AETEPA), bis(piperazine)ethylene (BISPIP), aminoethyl piperazinylethylethylenediamine (AEPEEDA), piperazinylethyldiethylenetriamine (PEDETA), aminoethylpiperazinylethyldiethylenetriamine (AEPEDETA), piperazinylethyltriethylenetetramine (PETETA), tris(aminoethyl)aminoethylpiperazine (TRISAEAEP) and piperazinylethylaminoethyldiethylenetriamine (PEAEDETA).

8. Composition according to claim 7 , wherein the amine is urea, diethylenetriamine (DETA), triethylenetetramine (TETA), tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) and the mixtures of abovementioned amines in which TEPA is predominant.

9. Composition according to claim 1 , wherein the compound is acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, crotonic acid, fumaric acid, maleic acid, citraconic acid, itaconic acid and the anhydrides of these acids.

10. Composition according to claim 1 , wherein the amount of amine in the composition is such that the molar ratio of the compound comprising activated ethylenic unsaturation(s) to the amine varies from 1 to 3.5.

11. Composition according to claim 1 , wherein the amount of compound comprising activated ethylenic unsaturation(s) in the composition is such that the molar ratio of the compound comprising activated ethylenic unsaturation(s) to the sum of the constituent saccharide units of the non-reducing sugar varies from 0.05 to 1.5.

12. Composition according to claim 1 , further comprising the additives below in the following proportions, calculated on the basis of 100 parts by weight of non-reducing sugar, inorganic dehydration catalyst for the non-reducing sugar, amine and compound comprising activated ethylenic unsaturation(s):
from 0 to 2 parts of silane,
from 0 to 20 parts of oil,
from 0 to 5 parts of a silicone,
from 0 to 30 parts of an extender.

13. Process for the manufacture of an acoustic and/or thermal insulating product, the process comprising:
manufacturing a mineral wool or mineral fibres,
applying a sizing composition to said wool or said fibres, and
treating said wool or said fibres at a temperature which makes possible the crosslinking of the size and the formation of an infusible binder, wherein the sizing composition is a formaldehyde-free sizing composition, comprising
at least one non-reducing sugar,
at least one inorganic dehydration catalyst for the dehydration of the non-reducing sugar, wherein the at least one inorganic dehydration catalyst is selected from the group consisting of a sulphate of a transition metal, a sulphate of a poor metal, an ammonium sulphate, and any mixture thereof,
at least one amine, and
at least one compound comprising activated ethylenic unsaturation(s), wherein the compound comprising activated ethylenic unsaturation(s) corresponds to the following formula (IV):

in which:
R 3 represents a hydrogen atom, a C 1 -C 5 alkyl group, a hydroxyl group or a C 1 -C 5 alkoxy group,
R 4 and R 5 , which are identical or different, represent a hydrogen atom, a C 1 -C 5 alkyl group or a —CO—R 3 group, and
R 6 represents a hydrogen atom or a hydrocarbon chain which can include one or more heteroatoms.

14. Process according to claim 13 , wherein the non-reducing sugar is an oligosaccharide including at most 10 saccharide units.

15. Process according to claim 14 , wherein the non-reducing sugar is a di-, tri-, tetra- or pentasaccharide.

16. Process according to claim 13 , wherein the non-reducing sugar is trehalose, isotrehaloses, sucrose, melezitose, gentianose, raffinose, erlose, umbelliferose, stachyose or verbascose.

17. Process according to claim 13 , wherein the amount of inorganic dehydration catalyst for the dehydration of the non-reducing sugar represents from 1 to 30% of the weight of the non-reducing sugar.

18. Process according to claim 13 , wherein the amine corresponds to the following formula (I):
R-A-NHR 1   (I)

in which:
R is equal to H, OH, NHR 1 or —NR 1 ,
A represents an optionally branched alkylene, arylalkylene, arylene or alkylarylene group, a —CO— group or a group of following formula (II):

in which:
X is equal to —O— or —NR 2 —
with R 2 equal to H, —(CH 2 ) z —NH 2 or a divalent —(CH 2 ) t — group which forms, with a neighbouring nitrogen atom, a ring comprising 6 atoms,

x, y, z and t vary from 1 to 5,
n is equal to 1, 2, 3 or 4,

R 1 is a hydrogen atom or a C 1 to C 5 hydroxyalkyl group.

19. Process according to claim 17 , wherein the amine is selected from the group c

Assignees

• Didier Benoit
• Foti Fabio
• Obert Edouard
• Jaffrennou Boris
• Saint Gobain Isover

Inventors

• Didier Benoit
• Foti Fabio
• Obert Edouard
• Jaffrennou Boris

Classifications

• Y10T428/31971

  Of carbohydrate · CPC title

• Y10T428/31786

  Of polyester [e.g., alkyd, etc.] · CPC title

• C03C25/34

  Condensation polymers of aldehydes, e.g. with phenols, ureas, melamines, amides or amines · CPC title

• C03C25/26 Primary

  Macromolecular compounds or prepolymers · CPC title

• C08L97/02

  Lignocellulosic material, e.g. wood, straw or bagasse {(manufacture of articles made from lignocellulosic material by dry processes B27N)} · CPC title