Moisture crosslinkable copolymers of ethylene and hydrolysable silane

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12077618-B2
Application number	US-201917291408-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 11, 2019
Priority date	Nov 12, 2018
Publication date	Sep 3, 2024
Grant date	Sep 3, 2024

Abstract

A copolymer of ethylene and hydrolysable silane includes from 0.1 wt % to 5.0 wt % hydrolysable silane groups and has a Mz(abs)/Mw(abs) of less than or equal to 9.5; a ratio of Mz(abs)/Mw(abs) to polydispersity of less than or equal to 1.5; a polydispersity of 6.6 or greater; a Density×Polydispersity of 6.0 or greater; or an Amorphous Content at Room Temperature×Polydispersity of 360 or greater. Methods for forming a moisture-crosslinkable polymer composition include forming a copolymer of ethylene and hydrolysable silane at a polymerization temperature of greater than or equal to 180° C. to less than or equal to 400° C. at a pressure from 5,000 psi to 50,000 psi; and adding a silanol condensation catalyst to the copolymer of ethylene and hydrolysable silane.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A copolymer of ethylene and hydrolysable silane, wherein the copolymer comprises one or both of from 0.1 wt % to 5.0 wt % hydrolysable silane groups and from 0.02 mol % to 1.00 mol % hydrolysable silane groups and has the following properties:
a Mz(abs)/Mw(abs) of less than or equal to 9.5;
a ratio of Mz(abs)/Mw(abs) to polydispersity of less than or equal to 1.2;
a polydispersity of 6.6 or greater;
a LCB of 2.9 or greater;
a Density×Polydispersity of 6.0 or greater;
an Amorphous Content at Room Temperature×Polydispersity of 360 or greater; and
an Amorphous Content at Room Temperature×Polydispersity×LCB of 1000 or greater.

2. The copolymer of claim 1 , wherein the copolymer comprises one or both of from 0.9 wt % to 3.5 wt % hydrolysable silane groups and from 0.17 mol % to 0.68 mol % hydrolysable silane groups.

3. The copolymer of claim 1 , wherein the copolymer has at least one of the following properties:
a Mz(abs)/Mw(abs) of less than or equal to 9.0;
a ratio of Mz(abs)/Mw(abs) to polydispersity of less than or equal to 1.4;
a polydispersity of 6.7 or greater;
a LCB of 3.0 or greater;
a Density×Polydispersity of 6.1 or greater;
an Amorphous Content at Room Temperature×Polydispersity of 370 or greater; or
an Amorphous Content at Room Temperature×Polydispersity×LCB of 1100 or greater.

4. The copolymer of claim 1 , wherein the copolymer has at least one of the following properties:
a Mz(abs)/Mw(abs) of less than or equal to 8.5;
a ratio of Mz(abs)/Mw(abs) to polydispersity of less than or equal to 1.3;
a polydispersity of 7.0 or greater;
a LCB of 3.1 or greater;
a Density×Polydispersity of 6.5 or greater;
an Amorphous Content at Room Temperature×Polydispersity of 400 or greater; or
an Amorphous Content at Room Temperature×Polydispersity×LCB of 1200 or greater.

5. A moisture-crosslinkable polymeric composition comprising:
the copolymer of claim 1 ; and
a silanol condensation catalyst or catalyst masterbatch blend or silanol condensation catalyst masterbatch.

6. The moisture-crosslinkable polymeric composition of claim 5 , wherein the moisture-crosslinkable polymeric composition has a hot creep, measured at 0.2 MPa and 150° C. or 200° C. on extruded tape with a thickness of 50 mil (1.270 mm) to 80 mil (2.032 mm), of less than or equal to 100% within 15 days or less than or equal to 80% within 23 days, where the tape made of the moisture-crosslinkable polymeric composition has been cured at 23° C. and 50% relative humidity.

7. The moisture-crosslinkable polymeric composition of claim 5 , wherein the moisture-crosslinkable polymeric composition has a hot creep, measured at 0.2 MPa and 150° C. or 200° C. on extruded tape with a thickness of 30 mil (0.762 mm) to 80 mil (2.032 mm), of less than or equal to 175% after curing the tape for 4 hours to 20 hours in a 90° C. water bath.

8. The moisture-crosslinkable polymeric composition of claim 5 , wherein the copolymer of ethylene and hydrolysable silane comprises from 10.00 wt % to 99.95 wt % of the moisture-crosslinkable polymeric composition, and
the silanol condensation catalyst or catalyst masterbatch blend or silanol condensation catalyst masterbatch comprises from 90.0 wt % to 0.05 wt % of the moisture-crosslinkable polymeric composition.

9. The moisture-crosslinkable polymeric composition of claim 5 , wherein the moisture-crosslinkable polymeric composition further comprises one or more of:
moisture scavengers or scorch retardants;
antioxidants;
flame retardants;
UV stabilizers and absorbers;
metal deactivator;
polyolefins without silane functionality; and
silicones.

10. A cable comprising:
a conductor; and
a insulation or jacket annularly encompassing the conductor, wherein the jacket comprises the moisture-crosslinkable polymeric composition of claim 5 .

11. A method for forming a moisture-crosslinkable polymer composition comprising:
forming a copolymer of ethylene and hydrolysable silane at a polymerization temperature of greater than or equal to 180° ° C. to less than or equal to 400° C. at a pressure from 5,000 psi (34.5 MPa) to 50,000 psi (344.7 MPa); and
adding a silanol condensation catalyst to the copolymer of ethylene and hydrolysable silane,
wherein the moisture-crosslinkable polymeric composition has a hot creep, measured at 0.2 MPa and 150° ° C. or 200° C. on extruded tape with a thickness of 50 mil (1.270 mm) to 80 mil (2.032 mm), of less than or equal to 100% within 15 days or less than or equal to 80% within 23 days, where the tape made of the moisture-crosslinkable polymeric composition has been cured at 23° C. and 50% relative humidity.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the copolymer of ethylene and hydrolysable silane is formed at a polymerization temperature of greater than or equal to 245° C. to less than or equal to 325° C.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the moisture-crosslinkable polymeric composition has a hot creep, measured at 0.2 MPa and 150° C. or 200° C. on extruded tape with a thickness of 30 mil (0.762 mm) to 80 mil (2.032 mm), of less than or equal to 175% after curing the tape for 4 hours to 20 hours in a 90° C. water bath.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the silanol condensation catalyst is added as a catalyst masterbatch blend or silanol condensation catalyst.

Assignees

• Dow Global Technologies Llc

Inventors

• Chaudhary Bharat I
• Hasch Bruce Michael
• Munjal Sarat
• Eddy Christopher
• Rogers Kevin Paul
• Paradkar Rajesh P
• Krasovskiy Arkady
• Talreja Manish
• Sengupta Saurav S

Classifications

• H01B3/441 Primary

  from alkenes · CPC title

• C08L2312/08

  by silane · CPC title

• C08L23/0892

  with monomers containing atoms other than carbon, hydrogen or oxygen · CPC title

• C08F2810/50

  wherein the polymer is a copolymer and the modification is taking place only on one or more of the monomers present in minority · CPC title

• C08F2810/20

  leading to a crosslinking, either explicitly or inherently · CPC title