Surfactant-containing filled and plasticized thermoplastic compositions based on ethylene interpolymers

A composition comprising (a) from 0 to about 50% by weight of at least one copolymer of ethylene with at least one comonomer selected from the group consisting of vinyl esters of saturated carboxylic acids wherein the acid moiety has up to 4 carbon atoms, unsaturated mono- and dicarboxylic acids of 3 to 5 carbon atoms, salts of said unsaturated acids, and esters of said unsaturated acids wherein the alcohol moiety has 1 to 8 carbon atoms, the ethylene content of said copolymer being from about 40 to about 95% by weight, the comonomer content of said copolymer being from about 5 to about 60% by weight, and the melt index of said copolymer being from about 0.1 to about 400, provided that when said copolymer of ethylene is an ethylene/vinyl ester or ethylene/unsaturated mono- or dicarboxylic acid ester copolymer said copolymer can contain up to about 15 percent by weight of carbon monoxide or sulfur dioxide;

• provided, that when the olefin polymer of paragraph (e) is absent, the amount of ethylene copolymer is at least about 5% by weight;
• (b) from 0 to about 20 percent by weight of at least one plasticizer selected from the group consisting of processing oils, epoxidized oils, polyesters, polyethers, and polyether esters;
• (c) from about 40 to about 90% by weight of filler;
• (d) from about 0.05 to about 5% by weight of at least one surface active agent selected from the group consisting of alkanol amides;
• betaine derivatives;
• block copolymers comprising a series of condensates of ethylene oxide with hydrophobic bases formed by condensing propylene oxide with propylene glycol;
• ethoxylated compounds comprising alcohols, alkyl phenols, amines and amides;
• sulfonated derivatives comprising alkyl sulfonates, aryl sulfonates, alkyl-aryl sulfonates, amine and amide sulfonates, olefin sulfonates, sulfosuccinates, sulfonated fatty acid esters, sulfonates of ethoxylated alkyl phenols and of oils and of fatty acids, naphtholene and alkyl naphtholene sulfonates, condensed naphtholene sulfonates, naphthalene and alkyl naphthalene sulfonates and petroleum sulfonates, and dodecyl and tridecyl benzene sulfonates;
• dodecyl and tridecyl sulfonic acids;
• sulfates of alcohols, of ethoxylated alcohols, of ethoxylated alkyl phenols, of oils, of fatty acids, of fatty esters, alkaryl sulfates, and sodium, ammonium and amine salts thereof;
• phosphate derivatives comprising phosphate esters, phosphate alcohol ethoxylates, phosphate ether ethoxylates, phosphate alkyl acids and phosphate alkyl quaternaries;
• and quaternary surfactants;
• (e) from 0 to about 55% by weight of olefin polymer selected from the group consisting of low density branched polyethylene, high density linear polyethylene, linear copolymers of ethylene and another olefin comonomer, polypropylene and copolymers of propylene and ethylene where the ethylene content is up to 20% by weight provided, that when the ethylene copolymer of paragraph (a) is absent the amount of olefin polymer is at least about 5% by weight;
• (f) from 0 to about 50% by weight of elastomeric polymer;
• and
• (g) from 0 to about 30% by weight of tackifier.