Masterbatch of highly loaded amorphous PHA dispersed in amorphous or semi-crystalline polymer and method of producing the same
AssigneeCj Cheiljedang Corporation
InventorsJohn Licata, Allen Padwa
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An amorphous or semi-crystalline polymer/aPHA composition (masterbatch) has a high load of aPHA (30 to 50 wt % based on the total amount of the composition). A method for production of the composition includes two or more split feedings of the aPHA in a blending or mixing or compounding operation. The method includes feeding about 1-15 weight percent (wt %) of the total aPHA in a primary feed hopper of a blending or mixing or compounding apparatus and about 30-49 weight percent downstream in the process.
Claims5
A pelletized masterbatch composition comprising continuous amorphous or semi-crystalline polymer and discrete amorphous polyhydroxyalkanoate (aPHA) dispersed in the continuous amorphous or semi-crystalline polymer, wherein the aPHA is contained in an amount of about 30 to 50 wt % based on a total weight of the pelletized masterbatch composition, wherein the pelletized masterbatch is produced by a method comprising:
- feeding the amorphous or semi-crystalline polymer and about 1-15 wt %, based on a sum of total aPHA and total amorphous or semi-crystalline polymer in the masterbatch, of aPHA to a primary feed;
- melting the primary feed;
- feeding about 30-49 wt %, based on the sum of the total aPHA and the total amorphous or semi-crystalline polymer in the masterbatch, of aPHA to a secondary feed that is physically separated from the primary feed to combine the secondary feed and the melted primary feed, and
- dispersing aPHA of the secondary feed in the melted primary feed to obtain a masterbatch melt, and cooling and pelletizing the masterbatch to obtain the pelletized mastertabch in which discrete aPHA particles are dispersed in the amorphous or semi-crystalline polymer, and
- wherein the amorphous or semi-crystalline polymer is selected from the group consisting of polylactic acid (PLA), polybutylene succinate (PBS), polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT), polyethylene-succinate (PES), polycaprolactone (PCL), semi-crystalline polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), and a combination thereof, and
- wherein the discrete aPHA particles have an average diameter of less than 3 μm.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.