Formaldehyde-free melamine carbohydrate binders for improved fire-resistant fibrous materials

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9982082-B2
Application number	US-201715435641-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 17, 2017
Priority date	Jul 3, 2014
Publication date	May 29, 2018
Grant date	May 29, 2018

Abstract

Embodiments of the present technology include a formaldehyde-free binder composition. The composition may include melamine. The composition may also include a reducing sugar. In addition, the binder composition may include a non-carbohydrate aldehyde or ketone. Embodiments may also include a method of making a formaldehyde-free binder composition. The method may include dissolving melamine in an aqueous solution of a reducing sugar. The concentration of the reducing sugar may be 30 wt. % to 70 wt. % of the aqueous solution, which may be at a temperature of 50° C. to 100° C. The method may also include adding a non-carbohydrate aldehyde or ketone to the dissolved melamine in the aqueous solution to form a binder solution. The temperature of the aqueous solution of the dissolved melamine may be 50° C. to 100° C. during the addition of the non-carbohydrate aldehyde or ketone. The method may further include reducing the temperature of the binder solution.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A fiber-reinforced composite comprising:
a plurality of fibers; and
a binder made from a formaldehyde-free binder composition comprising:
melamine,
a reducing sugar,
a non-carbohydrate aldehyde or ketone, and
a curing catalyst, wherein:
the non-carbohydrate aldehyde or ketone:
is selected from the group consisting of glyoxal, acetaldehyde, butyraldehyde, glutaric dialdehyde, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, and pentanedione, or
comprises a compound having the formula:

where R 1 and R 2 are independently selected from hydrogen, an alkyl group, an aromatic group, an alcohol group, an aldehyde group, a ketone group, a carboxylic acid group, and an alkoxy group, and

the binder composition forms (i) a reaction product of only the melamine and the non-carbohydrate aldehyde or ketone that reacts with (ii) the reducing sugar to make a crosslinked polymeric cured binder.

2. The fiber-reinforced composite of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of fibers comprises glass fibers.

3. The fiber-reinforced composite of claim 1 , wherein the binder further comprises a melamine salt formed by a reaction of the melamine with the curing catalyst in the formaldehyde-free binder composition, wherein the curing catalyst is selected from a sulfate salt, a phosphate salt, a borate salt, or combinations thereof.

4. The fiber-reinforced composite of claim 3 , wherein the curing catalyst is chosen from ammonium sulfate, diammonium phosphate, ammonium borate, or combinations thereof.

5. The fiber-reinforced composite of claim 1 , wherein the formaldehyde-free binder composition has a mole ratio of the melamine to the reducing sugar of 1:3 to 1:12.

6. The fiber-reinforced composite of claim 1 , wherein the formaldehyde-free binder composition has a range of mole ratios of melamine:non-carbohydrate aldehyde or ketone:reducing sugar of 1:0.5:6 to 1:0.5:12.

7. The fiber-reinforced composite of claim 1 , wherein the reducing sugar comprises dextrose.

8. The fiber-reinforced composite of claim 1 , wherein the non-carbohydrate aldehyde or ketone is selected from the group consisting of acetaldehyde, butyraldehyde, alkoxylated acetaldehyde, glutaric dialdehyde, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, and pentanedione.

9. The fiber-reinforced composite of claim 1 , wherein the non-carbohydrate aldehyde or ketone comprises glyoxal.

10. The fiber-reinforced composite of claim 9 , wherein a mole ratio of the melamine to the glyoxal is 2:1 to 1:3.

11. A method of making a fiber-reinforced composite, the method comprising:
providing a plurality of fibers;
contacting the plurality of fibers with a formaldehyde-free binder composition to make a fiber-binder amalgam, wherein the formaldehyde-free binder composition comprises:
melamine,
a reducing sugar,
a non-carbohydrate aldehyde or ketone selected from the group consisting of glyoxal, acetaldehyde, butyraldehyde, glutaric dialdehyde, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, and pentanedione, or
comprises a compound having the formula:

where R 1 and R 2 are independently selected from hydrogen, an alkyl group, an aromatic group, an alcohol group, an aldehyde group, a ketone group, a carboxylic acid group, and an alkoxy group, and
a curing catalyst; and

heating the fiber-binder amalgam to a temperature of 100° C. to 250° C. to form the fiber-reinforced composite, wherein:
the binder composition forms (i) a reaction product of only the melamine and the non-carbohydrate aldehyde or ketone that reacts with (ii) the reducing sugar to make a crosslinked polymeric cured binder.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of fibers comprises glass fibers.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the formaldehyde-free binder composition has a mole ratio of the melamine to the reducing sugar of 1:3 to 1:12.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the formaldehyde-free binder composition has a range of mole ratios of melamine:non-carbohydrate aldehyde or ketone:reducing sugar of 1:0.5:6 to 1:0.5:12.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the curing catalyst is chosen from ammonium sulfate, diammonium phosphate, ammonium borate, or combinations thereof.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the reducing sugar comprises dextrose.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the non-carbohydrate aldehyde or ketone is selected from the group consisting of acetaldehyde, butyraldehyde, alkoxylated acetaldehyde, glutaric dialdehyde, acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, and pentanedione.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the non-carbohydrate aldehyde or ketone comprises glyoxal.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein a mole ratio of the melamine to the glyoxal is 2:1 to 1:3.

20. The method of claim 11 , wherein the fiber-binder amalgam is heated to a temperature of 150° C. to 200° C. to form the fiber-reinforced composite.

Assignees

• Johns Manville

Inventors

• Alavi Kiarash

Classifications

• D04H1/587

  characterised by the bonding agents used · CPC title

• C08G12/32

  Melamines · CPC title

• C08G16/0256 Primary

  containing oxygen in the ring · CPC title

• C03C25/1095

  to obtain coated fabrics · CPC title

• C08G12/00

  Condensation polymers of aldehydes or ketones with only compounds containing hydrogen attached to nitrogen (aminophenols C08G8/16) · CPC title