Thermoformed article formed from a porous polymeric sheet
AssigneeKimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc.
InventorsVasily A. Topolkaraev, Ryan J. McEneany, Brent M. Thompson, Duane L. McDonald
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Abstract
A thermoformed article that is formed from a polymeric sheet having a thickness of from about 0.1 to about 100 millimeters is provided. The polymeric sheet contains a thermoplastic composition that includes a continuous phase that includes a matrix polymer. A microinclusion additive and nanoinclusion additive are dispersed within the continuous phase in the form of discrete domains, and a porous network is defined in the composition that includes a plurality of nanopores having an average cross-sectional dimension of about 800 nanometers or less.
Claims29
A thermoformed article that is formed from a polymeric sheet having a thickness of from about 0.1 to about 100 millimeters, wherein the polymeric sheet contains a thermoplastic composition that includes a continuous phase that includes a matrix polymer,
- wherein a polymeric microinclusion additive is present in an amount of from 1 wt. % to 20 wt. % based on the weight of the thermoplastic composition and a polymeric nanoinclusion additive is present in an amount of from 0.01 wt. % to 15 wt. % based on the weight of the thermoplastic composition,
- wherein the microinclusion addition and the nanoinclusion additive are dispersed within the continuous phase in the form of discrete domains,
- wherein a porous network is defined in the composition that includes a plurality of nanopores having an average cross-sectional dimension of about 800 nanometers or less, and
- wherein the polymeric sheet exhibits a machine direction and/or a cross-machine direction tensile modulus of from 100 MPa to 2,500 MPa, as determined in accordance with ASTM D638-10 at 23° C.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.