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US 5,359,026 AGranted
Poly(lactide) copolymer and process for manufacture thereof
AssigneeCargill, Incorporated
InventorPatrick R. Gruber
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Abstract
A copolymerized poly(lactide) polymer. A lactide is copolymerized with an epoxidized fat, oil, or mixture thereof thereby resulting in poly(lactide) copolymers having improved processing properties over prior poly(lactide)s.
Claims27
A polymer composition comprising the reaction product of a mixture comprising:
- (a) lactide;
- and,
- (b) about 0.1 to 10%, by weight, of a copolymerizing agent comprising an expoxidized material containing two or more epoxy groups per molecule.
A polymer composition according to claim 23 wherein:
- (a) said copolymerizing agent comprises epoxidized soybean oil.
A process for manufacturing a poly(lactide) copolymer;
- said process comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a mixture comprising:
- (i) lactide;
- and,
- (ii) about 0.1 to 10%, by weight, of a copolymerizing agent comprising an epoxidized material containing two or more epoxy groups per molecule;
- and,
- (b) polymerizing the lactide and the copolymerizing agent to produce a copolymerized poly(lactide) having a weight average molecular weight of about 100,000 to about 1,200,000 and a polydispersion index of at least 2.9.
4 more elements
A method of forming a polymer film;
- said method including a step of:
- (a) extruding a polymer composition comprising the reaction product of a mixture comprising:
- (i) lactide;
- and,
- (ii) about 0.1 to 10%, by weight, of a copolymerizing agent comprising an epoxidized material containing two or more epoxy groups per molecule.
2 more elements
A polymer composition comprising the product of a reaction mixture wherein the non-catalyst, reactive components of the mixture consist essentially of:
- (a) lactide material selected from the group consisting essentially of lactide and polylactide;
- and
- (b) about 0.1 to 10%, by weight, of a copolymerizing agent comprising an epoxidized material containing two or more epoxy groups per molecule.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.