Foamed thermoplastic material, method for the manufacture thereof, articles prepared therefrom, and article-forming method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10745533-B2
Application number	US-201716317660-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 5, 2017
Priority date	Jul 15, 2016
Publication date	Aug 18, 2020
Grant date	Aug 18, 2020

Abstract

A foamed thermoplastic material includes a thermoplastic material exhibiting, in its unfoamed state, a particular flammability index, flame growth rate, and specific extinction area. The foamed thermoplastic material further includes a plurality of cells having a number average mean diameter of 5 to 150 micrometers present in an amount effective to provide the foamed thermoplastic material with a density that is 10 to 90 percent of the density of the unfoamed thermoplastic material. The foamed thermoplastic material exhibits a desirable tensile elongation and dielectric constant. A process for forming the foamed thermoplastic material, articles including the foamed thermoplastic material, and an article-forming process are also described.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A foamed thermoplastic material comprising:
a thermoplastic material comprising
25 to 40 parts by weight of a poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene ether) having an intrinsic viscosity of 0.3 to 0.6 deciliters per gram measured by Ubbelohde viscometer at 25° C. in chloroform;
30 to 45 parts by weight of an impact modifier comprising
a first hydrogenated block copolymer of an alkenyl aromatic monomer and a conjugated diene having a poly(alkenyl aromatic) content of 30 to 50 weight percent and a melt flow index of 5 to 10 grams per 10 minutes, measured at 260° C. and 5 kilogram load according to ASTM D1238; and
a second hydrogenated block copolymer of an alkenyl aromatic monomer and a conjugated diene having a poly(alkenyl aromatic) content of 20 to 40 weight percent and a melt flow index of 2 to 8 grams per 10 minutes, measured at 230° C. and 5 kilogram load according to ASTM D1238;
10 to 20 parts by weight of a polyolefin comprising a polybutene, a propylene homopolymer, or a combination thereof; and
10 to 15 parts by weight of a flame retardant comprising a phosphoric acid salt and a metal dialkyl phosphinate;
wherein parts by weight are based on 100 parts by weight total of poly(phenylene ether), hydrogenated block copolymer, polyolefin, and flame retardant;
or
45 to 55 parts by weight of a poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene ether) having an intrinsic viscosity of 0.3 to 0.6 deciliters per gram measured by Ubbelohde viscometer at 25° C. in chloroform;
10 to 20 parts by weight of an impact modifier comprising
a first hydrogenated block copolymer of an alkenyl aromatic monomer and a conjugated diene having a poly(alkenyl aromatic) content of 25 to 35 weight percent and a melt flow index of less than 1 gram per 10 minutes, measured at 230° C. and 5 kilogram load according to ASTM D1238; and
a second hydrogenated block copolymer of an alkenyl aromatic monomer and a conjugated diene having a poly(alkenyl aromatic) content of 60 to 70 weight percent;
25 to 35 parts by weight of a propylene homopolymer; and
5 to 15 parts by weight of an organophosphate flame retardant;
wherein parts by weight are based on 100 parts by weight total of poly(phenylene ether), hydrogenated block copolymer, polyolefin, and flame retardant;
or
20 to 30 parts by weight of a reaction product comprising a poly(phenylene ether-siloxane) copolymer and a poly(phenylene ether), wherein the reaction product is prepared by a process comprising oxidatively copolymerizing a monomer mixture comprising a monohydric phenol and a hydroxyaryl-terminated polysiloxane;
10 to 15 parts by weight of an impact modifier comprising
a first hydrogenated block copolymer of an alkenyl aromatic monomer and a conjugated diene having a poly(alkenyl aromatic) content of 25 to 35 weight percent; and
a second hydrogenated block copolymer of an alkenyl aromatic monomer and a conjugated diene having a poly(alkenyl aromatic) content of 25 to 35 weight percent and a melt flow index of less than 1 gram per 10 minutes, measured at 230° C. and 5 kilogram load according to ASTM D1238;
30 to 35 parts by weight of a polyolefin comprising a polybutene, a propylene homopolymer, an ethylene copolymer, or a combination thereof;
25 to 35 parts by weight of a surface-treated metal hydroxide;
wherein parts by weight are based on 100 parts by weight total of the reaction product, hydrogenated block copolymer, polyolefin, and flame retardant;
wherein the thermoplastic material exhibits,
in its unfoamed state,
a flammability index of 0.1 to 15, determined according to ASTM D7309 Method A at a heating rate of 1° C. per second under nitrogen from 25 to 750° C.;
a flame growth rate of 0.1 to 1.5 kW/m 2 s, determined according to ASTM E1354 or ISO 5660 using an applied heat flux of 35 kilowatt per square meter;
a specific extinction area of 300 to 1200 square meters per kilogram, determined according to ASTM E1354 or ISO 5660 using an applied heat flux of 35 kilowatt per square meter;
a tensile elongation of greater than 100%, measured according to UL 1581 at a temperature of 23° C., using a coated wire test sample; and
a dielectric constant of 2 to 4, determined according to ASTM D150-11 at 1 MHz; and

in its foamed state,
a tensile elongation of 100 to 500%, measured according to UL 1581 at a temperature of 23° C., using a coated wire test sample; and
a dielectric constant of 1.4 to 4, determined according to ASTM D150-11 at 1 MHz; and

a plurality of cells having a number average mean diameter of 5 to 150 micrometers, as determined by scanning electron microscopy;
wherein the cells are present in an amount effective to provide the foamed thermoplastic material with a density that is 10 to 90 percent of the density of the unfoamed thermoplastic material.

2. The foamed thermoplastic material of claim 1 , comprising,
25 to 40 parts by weight of a poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene ether) having an intrinsic viscosity of 0.3 to 0.6 deciliters per gram measured by Ubbelohde viscometer at 25° C. in chloroform;
30 to 45 parts by weight of an impact modifier comprising
a first hydrogenated block copolymer of an alkenyl aromatic monomer and a conjugated diene having a poly(alkenyl aromatic) content of 30 to 50 weight percent and a melt flow index of 5 to 10 grams per 10 minutes, measured at 260° C. and 5 kilogram load according to ASTM D1238; and
a second hydrogenated block copolymer of an alkenyl aromatic monomer and a conjugated diene having a poly(alkenyl aromatic) content of 20 to 40 weight percent and a melt flow index of 2 to 8 grams per 10 minutes, measured at 230° C. and 5 kilogram load according to ASTM D1238;

10 to 20 parts by weight of a polyolefin comprising a polybutene, a propylene homopolymer, or a combination thereof; and
10 to 15 parts by weight of a flame retardant comprising a phosphoric acid salt and a metal dialkyl phosphinate;
wherein parts by weight are based on 100 parts by weight total of poly(phenylene ether), hydrogenated block copolymer, polyolefin, and flame retardant.

3. The foamed thermoplastic material of claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic material comprises,
45 to 55 parts by weight of a poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene ether) having an intrinsic viscosity of 0.3 to 0.6 deciliters per gram measured by Ubbelohde viscometer at 25° C. in chloroform;
10 to 20 parts by weight of an impact modifier comprising
a first hydrogenated block copolymer of an alkenyl aromatic monomer and a conjugated diene having a poly(alkenyl aromatic) content of 25 to 35 weight percent and a melt flow index of less than 1 gram per 10 minutes, measured at 230° C. and 5 kilogram load according to ASTM D1238; and
a second hydrogenated block copolymer of an alkenyl aromatic monomer and a conjugated diene having a poly(alkenyl aromatic) content of 60 to 70 weight percent;

25 to 35 parts by weight of a propylene homopolymer; and
5 to 15 parts by weight of an organophosphate flame retardant;
wherein parts by weight are based on 100 parts by weight total of poly(phenylene ether), hydrogenated block copolymer, polyolefin, and flame retardant.

4. The foamed thermoplastic material of claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic material comprises,
20 to 30 parts by weight of a reaction product comprising a poly(phenylene ether-siloxane) copolymer and a poly(phenylene ether), wherein the reaction product is prepared by a process comprising oxidatively copolymerizing a monomer mixture comprising a monohydric phenol and a hydroxyaryl-terminated polysiloxane;
10 to 15 parts by weight of an impact modifier comprising
a first hydrogenated block copolymer of an alkenyl aromatic monomer and a conjugated diene having a poly(alkenyl aromatic) content of 25 to 35 weight percent; and
a second hydrogenated block copolymer of an alkenyl aromatic monomer and a conj

Assignees

• Sabic Global Technologies Bv

Inventors

• Ma Shuailei
• Sheth Kapil Chandrakant
• Zhou Ji
• Yang Jian
• Maddikeri Raghavendra Raj

Classifications

• C08J2419/00

  Characterised by the use of rubbers not provided for in groups C08J2407/00 - C08J2417/00 · CPC title

• H01B3/427

  Polyethers · CPC title

• C08J2201/024

  Preparation or use of a blowing agent concentrate, i.e. masterbatch in a foamable composition · CPC title

• C08J2205/052

  Closed cells, i.e. more than 50% of the pores are closed · CPC title

• C08J9/0028

  containing nitrogen · CPC title