Poly(vinyl acetal) resin compositions, layers, and interlayers having enhanced optical properties

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016160029-A1
Application number	US-201414563378-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Dec 8, 2014
Priority date	Dec 8, 2014
Publication date	Jun 9, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Resin compositions, layers, and interlayers comprising two or more thermoplastic polymers and at least one RI balancing agent for adjusting the refractive index of at least one of the resins or layers is provided. Such compositions, layers, and interlayers exhibit enhanced optical properties while retaining other properties, such as impact resistance and acoustic performance.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An interlayer comprising: a resin layer comprising a poly(vinyl acetal) resin, a plasticizer, and at least one solid RI additive having a refractive index of at least 1.460, wherein said solid RI additive is present in said resin layer in an amount of at least 1 part per hundred parts of resin (phr).

2 . The interlayer of claim 1 , wherein said solid RI additive is a physical RI additive and is present in said resin layer in an amount of at least 5 phr.

3 . The interlayer of claim 1 , wherein said solid RI additive is a reactive RI additive and is present in said resin layer in an amount of not more than 50 phr.

4 . The interlayer of claim 1 , wherein said poly(vinyl acetal) resin comprises at least 50 weight percent of residues of at least one aldehyde selected from the group consisting of n-butyraldehyde, iso-butyraldehyde, 2-ethylhexanal, and combinations thereof, based on the total weight of aldehyde residues of said poly(vinyl acetal) resin and wherein said resin layer has a glass transition temperature of less than 20° C. and a refractive index of at least 1.470.

5 . The interlayer of claim 1 , wherein said interlayer further comprises a second resin layer adjacent to said resin layer, wherein said second resin layer comprises a second poly(vinyl acetal) resin and a second plasticizer, wherein said solid RI additive is present in said resin layer in a sufficient amount so that the absolute value of the difference between the refractive index of said resin layer and the refractive index of said second resin layer is less than 0.010.

6 . The interlayer of claim 5 , wherein said resin layer comprises said RI additive in a higher amount than said second resin layer, wherein the difference between the amount of said solid RI additive in said resin layer and the amount of said solid RI additive in said second resin layer is at least 2 phr.

7 . A multiple layer panel comprising the interlayer of claim 1 and at least one rigid substrate.

8 . An interlayer comprising:
a first resin layer comprising a first poly(vinyl acetal) resin and a first plasticizer; a second resin layer adjacent to said first resin layer, wherein said second resin layer comprises a second poly(vinyl acetal) resin and a second plasticizer, wherein said second resin layer has a glass transition temperature that is at least 3° C. higher or lower than the glass transition temperature of said first resin layer; and a solid refractive index (RI) additive present in at least one of said first and said second resin layers, wherein said solid RI additive is present in said at least one of said first and said second resin layers in an amount such that the absolute value of the difference between the refractive index of said first resin layer and the refractive index of said second resin layer is not more than 0.010.

9 . The interlayer of claim 8 , wherein said solid RI additive has a refractive index of at least 1.460 and is present in said second resin layer in an amount of at least 1 phr.

10 . The interlayer of claim 9 , wherein said solid RI additive is a physical RI additive and is present in said second resin layer in an amount of at least 10 phr and wherein said physical RI additive is present in said first resin layer in an amount of at least 5 phr.

11 . The interlayer of claim 9 , wherein said solid RI additive is a reactive RI additive and is present in said first resin layer in an amount of less than 0.5 phr.

12 . The interlayer of claim 8 , wherein said solid RI additive is an RI lowering additive present in said first resin layer in an amount in the range of from about 1 phr to about 50 phr.

13 . The interlayer of claim 8 , wherein said solid RI additive has a melting point of at least about 27° C.

14 . The interlayer of claim 8 , wherein each of said first and said second poly(vinyl acetal) resins comprise at least 80 weight percent of an aldehyde selected from the group consisting of n-butyraldehyde, iso-butyraldehyde, 2-ethylhexaldehyde, and combinations thereof, based on the total weight of aldehyde residues of said first or said second poly(vinyl acetal) resin, wherein the glass transition temperature of said first resin layer is at least 26° C. and the glass transition temperature of said second resin layer is not more than 25° C., wherein the difference between the residual hydroxyl content of said first poly(vinyl acetal) resin and said second poly(vinyl acetal) resin is at least 2 weight percent, and wherein the refractive index of said second resin layer is at least 1.470.

15 . A multiple layer panel comprising the interlayer of claim 8 and at least one rigid substrate.

16 . A method of making an interlayer, said method comprising:
(a) blending a first poly(vinyl acetal) resin with a first plasticizer to form a first plasticized resin; (b) blending a second poly(vinyl acetal) resin with a second plasticizer to form a second plasticized resin; and (c) forming an interlayer comprising a first resin layer and a second resin layer adjacent to said first resin layer, wherein said first resin layer comprises said first plasticized resin and said second resin layer comprises said second plasticized resin, wherein at least one of said blending of step (a) and said blending of step (b) further comprises blending said first and/or said second poly(vinyl acetal) resin with at least one solid refractive index (RI) additive, and wherein the absolute value of the difference between the refractive index of said first resin layer and the refractive index of said second resin layer in said interlayer is not more than 0.010.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein said blending of step (b) includes blending said solid RI additive with said second poly(vinyl acetal) resin and said second plasticizer, wherein said solid RI additive has a RI of at least 1.460 and is present in said second plasticized resin in an amount of at least 1 phr.

18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein said blending of step (a) also includes blending said solid RI additive with said first poly(vinyl acetal) resin and said first plasticizer, wherein said first plasticized resin comprises at least 5 phr of said solid RI additive and said second plasticized resin comprises at least 10 phr of said solid RI additive.

19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein said blending of step (a) does not include blending said solid RI additive with said first poly(vinyl acetal) resin and said first plasticizer.

20 . The method of claim 16 , wherein at least a portion of said blending of steps (a) and/or (b) are carried out at a temperature of at least 140° C. and wherein said forming of step (c) comprises co-extruding said first plasticized resin and said second plasticized resin to form a co-extruded interlayer, wherein the difference between the glass transition temperature of said first resin layer and the glass transition temperature of said second resin layer is at least 3° C., wherein the difference between the residual hydroxyl content of said first poly(vinyl acetal) resin and the residual hydroxyl content of said second poly(vinyl acetal) resin is at least 2 weight percent, and wherein the difference between the amount of said first plasticizer in said first resin layer and the amount of said second plasticizer in said second resin layer is at least 5 phr, and wherein said interlayer has a haze value of less than 5 percent and a loss factor at 20° C. of at least 0.10.

Assignees

• Solutia Inc

Inventors

• Lu Jun
• Chen Wenjie
• Thompson Helen M

Classifications

• B32B27/08

  of synthetic resin · CPC title

• B29L2007/008

  Wide strips, e.g. films, webs · CPC title

• C08K5/103

  with polyalcohols · CPC title

• B29K2031/00

  Use of polyvinylesters {or derivatives thereof} as moulding material · CPC title

• B32B2307/412

  Transparent · CPC title