Polyethylene compositions with improved optical properties

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10316168-B2
Application number	US-201515539225-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 17, 2015
Priority date	Dec 23, 2014
Publication date	Jun 11, 2019
Grant date	Jun 11, 2019

Abstract

Embodiments of a polyethylene composition comprise at least 50% by wt. of at least one polyethylene polymer; and 0.001 to 2% by wt. of bisamide nucleating agent utilized to reduce haze within the polyethylene composition.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A polyethylene composition comprising:
at least 50% by wt. of a linear low density polyethylene polymer (LLDPE); and
0.001 to 2% by wt nucleating agent comprising a structure of formulas (I), (II), or (III):

wherein R1 and R2 comprise the same or different moieties chosen from: C 1 -C 20 alkyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more hydroxy; C 4 -C 20 alkenyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more hydroxy; C 2 -C 20 alkyl interrupted by oxygen or sulfur; C 3 -C 12 cycloalkyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 20 alkyl; (C3-C 12 cycloalkyl)-C 1 -C 10 alkyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 20 alkyl; bis[C 3 -C 12 cycloalkyl]-C 1 -C 10 alkyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 20 alkyl; a bicyclic or tricyclic hydrocarbon radical with 5 to 20 carbon atoms unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 20 alkyl; phenyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from C 1 -C 20 alkyl, C 1 -C 20 alkoxy, C 1 -C 20 alkylamino, di(C 1 -C 20 alkyl)amino, hydroxy and nitro; phenyl-C 1 -C 20 alkyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from C 1 -C 20 alkyl, C 3 -C12 cycloalkyl, phenyl, C 1 -C 20 alkoxy and hydroxy; phenylethenyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 20 alkyl; biphenyl-(C 1 -C 10 alkyl) unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 20 alkyl; naphthyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 20 alkyl; naphthyl-C 1 -C 20 alkyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 20 alkyl; naphthoxymethyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 2 alkyl; biphenylenyl, flourenyl, anthryl; a 5-to-6-membered heterocylic radical unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 20 alkyl; a C 1 -C 20 hydrocarbon radical containing one or more halogen; or tri(C 1 -C 10 alkyl)silyl(C 1 -C 10 alkyl);
wherein, when the polyethylene composition is used to form an article, the article has a haze value reduction of at least 15% when compared to an article having the same polyethylene polymer but free of the nucleating agent.

2. The polyethylene composition of claim 1 wherein the polyethylene polymer is copolymer of ethylene with alpha-olefin copolymers, an ethylene homopolymer or combinations thereof.

3. The polyethylene composition according to claim 1 wherein the polyethylene composition has a melt index (I 2 )≤50 g/10 min, wherein I 2 is measured according to ASTM D1238 at 190° C. and 2.16 kg load, and a density about 0.855 to about 0.970 g/cm 3 .

4. The polyethylene composition according to claim 1 wherein the polyolefin resin comprises 0.01-0.5% by wt of the nucleating agent.

5. The polyethylene composition according to claim 1 wherein R1, R2, or both are

wherein R3 is a direct bond, or a C 1 -C 6 alkyl.

6. The polyethylene composition according to claim 1 wherein R1, R2 or both are

wherein R3 is a direct bond, or a C 1 -C 6 alkyl.

7. The polyethylene composition according to claim 1 wherein R1, R2, or both are

wherein R3 is a direct bond, or a C 1 -C 6 alkyl.

8. The polyethylene composition according to claim 1 wherein R1, R2, or both are

wherein R3 is a direct bond, or a C 1 -C 6 alkyl.

9. The polyethylene composition according to claim 1 wherein R1, R2, or both are a C 1 -C 6 alkyl.

10. The polyethylene composition according to claim 1 wherein the polyethylene composition comprises greater than about 60% by wt.

11. An article produced from the polyethylene composition of any of the preceding claims, wherein the article has a haze value reduction of at least 20% when compared to an article having the same polyethylene polymer but free of the nucleating agent.

12. The article of claim 11 wherein the article is chosen from a blown film, a cast film, a molded article, a melt-spun fiber, or an extruded article, wherein the extruded article is chosen form sheets, pipes, or tubes.

13. The polyethylene according to claim 1 wherein said polyethylene composition has a density of about 0.910 to about 0.940 g/cm 3 .

14. The polyethylene according to claim 1 wherein the polyethylene composition is substantially free of polypropylene.

15. The polyethylene according to claim 1 wherein polyethylene composition comprises 0.5% by weight to 15% by weight polypropylene.

16. The polyethylene according to claim 1 further comprising from about 0.5 to about 45% of a second polymer, the second polymer comprising a low density polyethylene polymer (LDPE), a high density polyethylene polymer (HDPE), very low density polyethylene (VLDPE), and ultra-low density polyethylene (ULDPE), polypropylene, or combinations thereof.

17. A polyethylene composition comprising:
at least 50% by wt. of at least one polyethylene polymer chosen from a linear low density polyethylene polymer (LLDPE), a low density polyethylene polymer (LDPE), a high density polyethylene polymer (HDPE), or combinations thereof; and
0.001 to 2% by wt nucleating agent comprising a structure of formulas (I), (II), or (III):

wherein R1 and R2 comprise the same or different moieties chosen from: C 1 -C 20 alkyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more hydroxy; C 4 -C 20 alkenyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more hydroxy; C 2 -C 20 alkyl interrupted by oxygen or sulfur; C 3 -C 12 cycloalkyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 20 alkyl; (C3-C 12 cycloalkyl)-C 1 -C 10 alkyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 20 alkyl; bis[C 3 -C 12 cycloalkyl]-C 1 -C 10 alkyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 20 alkyl; a bicyclic or tricyclic hydrocarbon radical with 5 to 20 carbon atoms unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 20 alkyl; phenyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from C 1 -C 20 alkyl, C 1 -C 20 alkoxy, C 1 -C 20 alkylamino, di(C 1 -C 20 alkyl)amino, hydroxy and nitro; phenyl-C 1 -C 20 alkyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more radicals selected from C 1 -C 20 alkyl, C 3 -C12 cycloalkyl, phenyl, C 1 -C 20 alkoxy and hydroxy; phenylethenyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 20 alkyl; biphenyl-(C 1 -C 10 alkyl) unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 20 alkyl; naphthyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 20 alkyl; naphthyl-C 1 -C 20 alkyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 20 alkyl; naphthoxymethyl unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 2 alkyl; biphenylenyl, flourenyl, anthryl; a 5-to-6-membered heterocylic radical unsubstituted or substituted by one or more C 1 -C 20 alkyl; a C 1 -C 20 hydrocarbon radical containing one or more halogen; or tri(C 1 -C 10 alkyl)silyl(C 1 -C 10 alkyl);
provided that when the nucleating agent is a structure of formula (II), R1 and R2 are not cyclohexyl;
wherein, when the polyethylene composition is used to form an article, the article has a haze

Assignees

• Dow Global Technologies Llc

Inventors

• Hill Martin K
• Bensason Selim
• Schmidt Hans-Werner
• Smith Paul
• Aksel Seda

Classifications

• C08L2205/24

  Crystallisation aids · CPC title

• C08L2203/16

  used for films · CPC title

• C08L2201/10

  Transparent films; Clear coatings; Transparent materials · CPC title

• C08K5/20 Primary

  Carboxylic acid amides · CPC title

• C07C233/65

  having the nitrogen atoms of the carboxamide groups bound to hydrogen atoms or to carbon atoms of unsubstituted hydrocarbon radicals · CPC title