Wet laid fiberous thermoplastic material and aqueous dispersion for producing same

A process of forming a wet-laid, non-woven, glass fiber containing thermoplastic polymer web that is moldable as a fiber reinforced thermoplastic laminate, comprising:

• A. forming an aqueous dispersion containing:
• 1. a particulate or particulate powder thermoplastic matrix polymer selected from the group consisting of polyolefins, polyesters, polyamides, polyphenylene oxide and polycarbonate, the matrix polymer constituting from 50 to 99 percent of the wet-laid web and present throughout and on the fibers of the web;
• 2. glass fibers of noncontinuous lengths treated with a forming size containing a film forming polymer compatible with the matrix polymer, an organo coupling agent and cationic lubricant, wherein the size allows the glass fibers to disperse in the aqueous dispersion from which the wet laid web is formed, the glass fibers constituting from 1 to 50 percent of the wet-laid web;
• B. depositing the aqueous dispersion onto a screen and removing water to form a non-woven, sheet-like, fiber containing thermoplastic polymer mat;
• and
• C. applying to the non-woven mat a mat binder having a solids content from around 0.1 to 32 weight percent and consisting essentially of:
• 1) a chemically modified thermoplastic polymer, constituting from around 0.01 to around 20 weight percent of the wet-laid web, containing chemically reactive moieties for addition, condensation or free radical reaction to allow for coupling of the fibers to the matrix polymer, selected from the group consisting of carboxylic acid modified polyolefins, carboxylic anhydride modified polyolefins, mixtures and blends of these;
• 2) film forming polymer in a positive amount not exceeding 4 weight percent of the wet-laid web selected from the group consisting of polyurethane, epoxy, epoxy-polyurethane and polyoxyalkylene;
• 3) from 0 to about 5 weight percent of the wet-laid web of an electron donating organo coupling agent;
• and
• 4) from 0 to about 3 weight percent of the wet-laid web of a compound selected from aliphatic or cyclic mono- or polycarboxylic acids and anhydrides thereof;
• D. drying the sheet-like web to form the wet-laid, non-woven fiber containing thermoplastic polymer web.