Process for producing an oriented film comprising poly(ethylene-2,5-furandicarboxylate)

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10974439-B2
Application number	US-201515505664-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 25, 2015
Priority date	Aug 25, 2014
Publication date	Apr 13, 2021
Grant date	Apr 13, 2021

Abstract

An oriented film including poly(ethylene-2,5-furandicarboxylate) is produced in a process by preparing a sheet from a poly(ethylene-2,5-furandicarboxylate) resin by heat processing, which sheet has a thickness of at most 2.5 mm; allowing the sheet to cool; and stretching the cooled sheet in at least one direction with a stretch ratio of at least 4/1 at a temperature in the range of 90 to 130° C., yielding an oriented film. The oriented film has a thickness of 1 to 400 μm and a tensile strength at break of at least 100 MPa.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A process for producing an oriented film comprising poly(ethylene-2,5-furandicarboxylate) which oriented film has a tensile modulus of at least 2,000 MPa, a tensile strength before break of at least 125 MPa and an oxygen permeability of at most 0.7 cc-mm/m2*day*atm, at 0% relative humidity and at 23 ° C., determined according to ASTM D-3985, which process comprises:
preparing a sheet from a poly(ethylene-2,5-furandicarboxylate) resin by heat processing which sheet has a thickness of at most 2.5 mm;
allowing the sheet to cool; and
stretching the cooled sheet in at least one direction with a stretch ratio of at least 4/1 at a temperature in the range of 90 to 130 ° C. to yield the oriented film,
wherein the poly(ethylene-2,5-furandicarboxylate) in the poly(ethylene-2,5- furandicarboxylate) resin has a weight average molecular weight in the range of 60,000 g/mol to 250,000 g/mol and a glass transition temperature of at most 90 ° C. and consists of included comonomers ethylene glycol and 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid and wherein the poly(ethylene-2,5- furandicarboxylate) in the oriented film has a weight average molecular weight in the range from 55,000 to 100,000 g/mol.

2. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the heat processing comprises extrusion and/or compression molding.

3. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the heat processing is carried out by compression molding at a temperature in the range of 245 to 265° C.

4. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the heat processing is carried out by extrusion at a temperature in the range of 230 to 280° C.

5. The process according to claim 4 , wherein the extrusion uses a die which is flat or annular.

6. The process according to claim 4 , wherein the stretching of the cooled sheet is conducted by accelerating the sheet along one or more sets of rollers.

7. The process according to claim 4 , wherein the extrusion process is a coextrusion process to obtain a multilayer structure.

8. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the stretching is done with a draw ratio of at least 4 to form a uniaxially oriented film.

9. The process according to claim 8 , wherein the uniaxially oriented film is stretched in a second direction using a tenter-frame.

10. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the stretching of the cooled sheet is conducted in a blown film apparatus.

11. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the sheet has a thickness in the range of 0.1 to 2.0 mm.

12. The process according to claim 1 , wherein said cooling is conducted to a temperature below 130° C.

13. The process according to claim 1 , wherein said stretching is conducted in at least two directions.

14. The process according to claim 13 , wherein said stretching is conducted in one direction with a stretch ratio of at least 3.0 and in a second direction with a stretch ratio of at least 3.0.

15. The process according to claim 14 , wherein said stretching is conducted in the one direction with a stretch ratio above 4.0 and in the second direction with a stretch ratio of above 4.0.

16. The process according to claim 15 , wherein said stretching is conducted in the one direction with a stretch ratio in the range of 4.2 to 5.5 and in the second direction with a stretch ratio in the range of 4.2 to 8.0.

17. The process according to claim 13 , wherein the at least two directions in which said stretching is conducted are two directions which are perpendicular to each other.

18. The process according to claim 1 , wherein said stretching is conducted in two or more directions simultaneously or sequentially.

19. The process according to claim 1 , wherein said stretching is conducted at a temperature in the range of 92 to 128° C.

20. The process according to claim 1 , further comprising heating the oriented film after said stretching, said heating conducted to a temperature of 140 to 210° C. while maintaining the oriented film under restraint.

21. The process according to claim 20 , wherein said heating is done while maintaining the oriented film under restraint with the help of an extension to a tenter-frame stretching apparatus.

22. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the poly(ethylene2,5-furandicarboxylate) resin comprises one or more other polymers and additives in addition to the poly(ethylene2,5-furandicarboxylate) of the resin.

23. The process according to claim 22 , wherein the one or more other polymers are selected from the group consisting of poly(ethylene terephthalate), nylon-6, nylon-6,6, polyolefins, block copolymers of styrene and butadiene and/or isoprene, and combinations thereof.

24. The process according to claim 22 , wherein the one or more additives are selected from the group consisting of basic compounds and/or ammonium compounds capable of suppressing the formation of diethylene glycol, plasticizers, softeners, dyes, antioxidants, oxygen scavengers, UV-stabilizers, fillers, and combinations thereof.

Assignees

• Synvina C V
• Furanix Technologies Bv

Inventors

• Kolstad Jeffrey John
• Van Berkel Jesper Gabriël

Classifications

• B32B2307/7244

  Oxygen barrier · CPC title

• B32B2307/518

  bi-axially · CPC title

• C08L67/025

  containing polyether sequences · CPC title

• C08J2367/02

  Polyesters derived from dicarboxylic acids and dihydroxy compounds; (C08J2367/06 takes precedence) · CPC title

• C08J5/18

  Manufacture of films or sheets · CPC title