Methods for producing highly thermoformable acrylic solid surface

A method for producing a thermoformed article comprising the steps of:

• i) preparing a thermoformable composition comprising:
• a) about 35 wt % to about 95 wt % of an acrylic pre-polymerized syrup;
• b) about 0-10 wt % of a comonomer;
• and
• c) about 5-65 wt % of a filler, wherein the filler has an average particle size (d50) in a range of 0.1 μm to 50 μm, and wherein the filler comprises one or more selected from a group consisting of aluminum trihydrate, aluminum monohydrate, magnesium hydroxide, calcium carbonate, magnesium silicate, talc, silica, calcium carbonate, calcium metasilicate, Wollastonite, Dolomite, Perlite, hollow glass spheres, and kaolin;
• ii) casting the thermoformable composition into a sheet;
• and
• iii) thermoforming the cast sheet against a mold to produce a thermoformed article, wherein the article has a surface having a gloss measurement at a 60° measurement angle within a range of about 0 Gloss Units to about 20 Gloss Units, and a roughness Ra within a range of about 1 microinch to about 100 microinches.