Ethylene-alpha-olefin copolymer-triallyl phosphate composition

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10913872-B2
Application number	US-201816488771-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 21, 2018
Priority date	Feb 28, 2017
Publication date	Feb 9, 2021
Grant date	Feb 9, 2021

Abstract

A peroxide-curable ethylene copolymer composition having (A) a crosslinkable ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer, (B) an effective amount of triallyl phosphate (TAP), (C) an organic peroxide, and, optionally, (D) a supplemental polymer; wherein the (A) crosslinkable ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer is made by copolymerizing ethylene and an olefin-functional comonomer in the presence of a molecular catalyst useful therefor. Also provided are a cured product made from the composition, methods of making and using same, and articles containing same.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A peroxide-curable ethylene copolymer composition comprising 58.00 to 99.90 weight percent (wt %) of (A) a crosslinkable ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer (“copolymer (A)” or “constituent (A)”), which is made by a process comprising copolymerizing ethylene and an alpha-olefin comonomer, and optionally another comonomer selected from a non-conjugated diene and a second alpha-olefin, in the presence of a molecular catalyst useful therefor; from 0.050 to 0.949 wt % of (B) triallyl phosphate (TAP); from 0.050 to 5.00 wt % of (C) an organic peroxide, wherein the (C) organic peroxide consists of a compound of formula R O —O—O—R O , or a combination of any two or more thereof, wherein each R O independently is a (C 1 -C 20 )alkyl group or (C 6 -C 20 )aryl group; and from 0.00 to 40 wt % of (D) a supplemental polymer selected from an ethylene/unsaturated carboxylic ester copolymer, a polyethylene homopolymer, a Non-(molecular catalyst)-formed ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer, and a propylene-based polymer; with the proviso that the total weight of constituent (A) and constituent (D) is 80.00 to 99.90 wt %; wherein all wt % are based on total weight of the peroxide-curable ethylene copolymer composition and wherein total weight of the peroxide-curable ethylene copolymer composition is 100.0 wt %.

2. The composition of claim 1 further described by any one of limitations (i) to (ii): (i) the alpha-olefin comonomer is a (C 3 -C 20 )alpha-olefin and the (A) crosslinkable ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer is an ethylene-(C 3 -C 20 )alpha-olefin copolymer (e.g., bipolymer (copolymerizing without the another comonomer) or terpolymer (copolymerizing with the second alpha-olefin comonomer)) that is characterized by at least one of the properties (a) to (c): (a1) a flexural modulus (2% secant) of from >0 to 40,000 psi (>0 to 278 MPa) measured according to ASTM D790-15e2 and/or (a2) a density from 0.850 to 0.930 grams per cubic centimeter (g/cm 3 ) measured according to ASTM D792; (b) a glass transition temperature (T g ) of −130° to −20° C. measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) according to ASTM 3418-15, and (c) a melt index (190° C., 2.16 kilograms (kg), “I 2 ”) of 0.5 decigram per minute (dg/min.) to 50 dg/min. measured according to ASTM D1238-04; or (ii) the alpha-olefin comonomer is propylene and the another comonomer is used and is a non-conjugated (C 6 -C 20 )diene and the (A) crosslinkable ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer is an ethylenepropylene-(C 6 -C 20 )diene copolymer (e.g., terpolymer) (EPDM) characterized by at least one of the properties (a) to (c): (a1) a flexural modulus (2% secant) of from >0 to 20,000 psi (>0 to 138 MPa) measured according to ASTM D790-15e2 and/or (a2) a density from 0.850 to 0.910 g/cm 3 measured according to ASTM D792; (b) a glass transition temperature (T g ) of −130° to −20° C. measured by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) according to ASTM 3418-15, and (c) a melt index (190° C., 2.16 kilograms (kg), “I 2 ”) of 0.1 decigram per minute (dg/min.) to 50 dg/min. measured according to ASTM D1238-04.

3. The composition of claim 1 further described by any one of limitations (i) to (iv): (i) the (A) crosslinkable ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer is from 90 to 99 wt % of the peroxide-curable ethylene copolymer composition, and the peroxide-curable ethylene copolymer composition is free of (lacks) the (D) supplemental polymer; (ii) the (A) crosslinkable ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer is from 58.00 to 90.00 wt % and the (D) supplemental polymer is from 40.0 to 1.0 wt % of the peroxide-curable ethylene copolymer composition; (iii) the (D) supplemental polymer is a polypropylene homopolymer; and (iv) both (ii) and (iii).

4. The composition of claim 1 further described by any one of limitations (i) to (iv): (i) the (B) triallyl phosphate (TAP) is from 0.090 to 0.940 wt %; (ii) the (B) triallyl phosphate (TAP) is from 0.100 to 0.900 wt %; (iii) the (B) triallyl phosphate (TAP) is from 0.19 to 0.849 wt %; (iv) the (B) triallyl phosphate (TAP) is from 0.200 to 0.800 wt %; wherein all wt % are based on total weight of the peroxide-curable ethylene copolymer composition.

5. The composition of claim 1 further described by any one of limitations (i) to (iv): (i) the (C) organic peroxide is from 1.0 to 4.0 wt % based on total weight of the peroxide-curable ethylene copolymer composition; (ii) the (C) organic peroxide is bis(1,1-dimethylethyl) peroxide; bis(1,1-dimethylpropyl) peroxide; 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-bis(1,1-dimethylethylperoxy) hexane; 2,5-dimethyl-2,5-bis(1,1-dimethylethylperoxy) hexyne; 4,4-bis(1,1-dimethylethylperoxy) valeric acid; butyl ester; 1,1-bis(1,1-dimethylethylperoxy)-3,3,5-trimethylcyclohexane; benzoyl peroxide; tert-butyl peroxybenzoate; di-tert-amyl peroxide (“DTAP”); bis(alpha-t-butyl-peroxyisopropyl) benzene (“BIPB”); isopropylcumyl t-butyl peroxide; t-butylcumylperoxide; di-t-butyl peroxide; 2,5-bis(t-butylperoxy)-2,5-dimethylhexane; 2,5-bis(t-butylperoxy)-2,5-dimethylhexyne-3,1,1-bis(t-butylperoxy)-3,3,5-trimethylcyclohexane; isopropylcumyl cumylperoxide; butyl 4,4-di(tert-butylperoxy) valerate; or di(isopropylcumyl) peroxide; or dicumyl peroxide; (iii) the (C) organic peroxide is dicumyl peroxide; and (iv) a combination of (i) and any one of (ii) to (iii).

6. The composition of claim 1 further described by limitation (i) or (ii): (i) wherein the total amount of constituents (A) to (D) is 100 wt % thereof; or (ii) wherein the total amount of constituents (A) to (D) is less than 100 wt % thereof and the peroxide-curable ethylene copolymer composition further comprises at least one of constituents (E) to (O): (E) an antioxidant; (F) a coagent that is not TAP; (G) a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) fluid; (H) a hindered amine stabilizer; (I) a flame retardant; (J) a tree retardant; (K) a colorant; (L) a liquid aromatic or saturated hydrocarbon (LASH); (M) a methyl radical scavenger; (N) a scorch retardant; and (O) a filler.

7. The composition of claim 6 further described by any one of limitations (i) to (vi): (i) the peroxide-curable ethylene copolymer composition further comprises constituent (E) antioxidant and the (E) antioxidant is bis(4-(1-methyl-1-phenylethyl)phenyl)amine; 2,2′-methylene-bis(4-methyl-6-t-butylphenol); 2,2′-thiobis(2-t-butyl-5-methylphenol; 2,2′-thiobis(6-t-butyl-4-methylphenol; tris [(4-tert-butyl-3-hydroxy-2,6-dimethylphenyl)methyl]-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-trione; pentaerythritol tetrakis(3-(3,5-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionate; 3,5-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)-4-hydroxybenzenepropanoic acid 2,2′-thiodiethanediyl ester; or distearyl thiodipropionate; (ii) the peroxide-curable ethylene copolymer composition further comprises constituent (F) coagent that is not TAP and the (F) coagent that is not TAP is triallyl isocyanurate; an unsaturated organophosphorous compound such as triallyl phosphoric triamide, N-hydroxymethyl-3-dimethylphosphonopropionamide, 2-ethyl-methacrylate phosphoric acid, phosphate ester of hydroxyl ethyl methacrylate, or vinyl phosphonic acid; or alpha-methyl styrene dimer (AMSD) or diisopropenylbenzene (DIPB); (iii) the peroxide-curable ethylene copolymer composition further comprises constituent (H) hindered amine stabilizer and the (H) hindered amine stabilizer is 1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-triamine, N2,N2″-1,2-ethanediylbis[N2-[3-[[4,6-bis[butyl(1,2,2,6,6-pentamethyl-4-piperidinyl)amino]-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl]amino]propyl]-N′,N″-dibutyl-N′,N″-bis(1,2,2,6,6-pentamethyl-4-piperidinyl)-; (iv) the peroxide-curable ethylene copolymer composition further comprises constituent (J) tree retardant and the (J) tree retardant is a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) with a number-average molecular weight (M n ) of 10,000 to 30000 grams/mole; (v) the peroxide-curable ethylene copolymer composition further comprises a combina

Assignees

• Dow Global Technologies Llc

Inventors

• Chaudhary Bharat I

Classifications

• H01B7/02

  Disposition of insulation · CPC title

• H01B3/441

  from alkenes · CPC title

• C08L2312/00

  Crosslinking · CPC title

• C08L2205/02

  containing two or more polymers of the same C08L -group · CPC title

• C08L2203/202

  use in electrical wires or wirecoating · CPC title