# US 2022/0033588 A1 · Cross-linked plastomers as a replacement for rubber

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- Number: US 2022/0033588 A1
- Document ID: US20220033588A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 17/276,724
- Filed: 2019-09-30
- Published: 2022-02-03
- Earliest claimed: 2018-10-02
- Assignees: Borealis AG
- Applicants: Borealis AG
- Inventors: Jari-Jussi Ruskeeniemi; Jeroen Oderkerk; Oscar Prieto; Stefan Hellström; Tanja Piel; Daniela Mileva; Floran Prades
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20220033588A1

## CPC

- C08F 255/02: on to polymers of olefins having two or three carbon atoms
- C08G 77/442: containing vinyl polymer sequences
- C08F 8/00: Chemical modification by after-treatment (graft polymers, block polymers, crosslinking with unsaturated monomers or with polymers C08F251/00 - C08F299/00; of conjugated diene rubbers C08C)
- C08J 3/24: Crosslinking, e.g. vulcanising, of macromolecules (mechanical aspects B29C35/00; crosslinking agents C08K)
- C08F 2810/20: leading to a crosslinking, either explicitly or inherently
- C08J 2383/10: Block- or graft-copolymers containing polysiloxane sequences
- C08F: MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING CARBON-TO-CARBON UNSATURATED BONDS
- C08G: MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED OTHERWISE THAN BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING UNSATURATED CARBON-TO-CARBON BONDS
- C08J: WORKING-UP; GENERAL PROCESSES OF COMPOUNDING; AFTER-TREATMENT NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C08B, C08C, C08F, C08G or C08H (working, e.g. shaping, of plastics B29)

## Abstract

Articles comprising a polymer composition, wherein the polymer composition is obtainable by grafting an ethylene copolymer with comonomer units comprising hydrolysable silane groups, wherein the polymer composition shows high gel content and low compression set at −25° C. These articles have applications in automotive weather-stripping, such as sealing systems for doors, trunks and hoods.

## Claims

### Claim at position 1

1: An article comprising:
a polymer composition,
wherein the polymer composition is obtainable by grafting an ethylene copolymer with comonomer units comprising hydrolysable silane groups, and
wherein, the polymer composition has an amount of more than 0.5 wt. % of the comonomer units comprising hydrolysable silane groups, based on the total weight amount of monomer units in the polymer composition,
wherein the said ethylene copolymer comprises alpha-olefin comonomer units having from 6-12 carbon atoms, and
wherein the said ethylene copolymer is characterized as having:
a density of from 840 to 890 kg/m3,
a total unsaturation of from 20 to 100 unsaturated bonds per 100,000 CHn groups.

### Claim at position 2 (depends on 1)

2: The article according to claim 1, wherein the ethylene copolymer comprises from 10 wt. % to 50 wt. % of alpha olefin comonomer units having from 6 to 12 carbon atoms based on the total amount of monomer units in the ethylene copolymer (as determined using NMR).

### Claim at position 3 (depends on 1)

3: The article according to claim 1, wherein the alpha olefin comonomer units are selected from 1-octene or 1-hexene.

### Claim at position 4 (depends on 1)

4: The article according to claim 1, wherein the ratio of vinyl groups to total unsaturated groups in the ethylene copolymer is less than 0.6.

### Claim at position 5 (depends on 1)

5: The article according to claim 1, wherein the ratio of cis to trans groups in the ethylene copolymer is greater than 1.

### Claim at position 6 (depends on 1)

6: The article according to claim 1, wherein the ethylene copolymer has a crystallinity between 5 and 8% when measured by DSC using 50° C./min cooling and heating rates.

### Claim at position 7 (depends on 1)

7: The article according to claim 1, wherein the polymer composition comprises further polymer components.

### Claim at position 8 (depends on 1)

8: The article according to claim 1, wherein the polymer composition has been cross-linked after forming the article by hydrolysing the silane groups in the presence of a silanol condensation catalyst (SCC).

### Claim at position 9 (depends on 8)

9: The article according to claim 8, wherein after crosslinking the article has a compression set (ISO 815-1:2010-9 at −25° C.) of from 0% to 5% when measured at −25° C.

### Claim at position 10 (depends on 8)

10: The article according to claim 8, wherein after crosslinking the article has a compression set (ISO 815-1:2010-9 at 23° C.) of from 0 to 20%, when measured at 23° C.

### Claim at position 11 (depends on 8)

11: The article according to claim 8, wherein the composition after crosslinking has a gel content of from 75% to 99%.

### Claim at position 12 (depends on 8)

12: The article according to claim 8, wherein the ethylene copolymer has an MFR2 (ISO 1133; 190° C.; 2.16 kg) in the range of from 0.01 to 5.0 g/10 min.

### Claim at position 13

13: A process for the production of an article comprising the steps of:
a) providing an ethylene copolymer,
wherein the ethylene copolymer comprises alpha-olefin comonomer units having from 6-12 carbon atoms,
wherein the ethylene copolymer is characterized as having:
a density of from 840 to 890 kg/m3,
a total unsaturation of from 20 to 100 unsaturated bonds per 100,000 CHn groups,
b) obtaining a polymer composition by grafting comonomer units comprising hydrolysable silane groups into the ethylene copolymer with a grafting agent to obtain a polymer composition with from 0.5 wt. % to 10 wt. % comonomer units comprising hydrolysable silane groups,
c) blending the silane grafted polymer composition from step b) with a silanol condensation catalyst,
d) forming the composition from step c) into an article.

### Claim at position 14 (depends on 13)

14: The process according to claim 13, wherein after step d) the article is cross-linked in the presence of water, to obtain a gel content (measured according to ASTM D 2765-01, Method A) of 75% to 99%.

### Claim 15

(canceled)

### Claim at position 16 (depends on 8)

16: The article according to claim 8, wherein the silanol condensation catalyst (SCC) used in the cross-linking step is a sulphonic acid.

### Claim at position 17 (depends on 16)

17: The article according to claim 16, wherein the silanol condensation catalyst is an aromatic organic sulphonic acid, which is an organic sulphonic acid and which comprises the structural element:
Ar(SO3H)x (IV)
wherein, Ar is an aryl group which may be substituted or non-substituted, and if substituted, then substituted with at least one hydrocarbyl group comprising up to 50 carbon atoms, and wherein x is at least 1;
or, wherein said structural element is a precursor of the sulphonic acid of formula (IV) including an acid anhydride thereof or a sulphonic acid of formula (IV) that has been provided with hydrolysable protective groups, an acetyl group that is removable by hydrolysis.