Melt-stable amorphous lactide polymer film and process for manufacturing thereof
AssigneeCargill, Incorporated
InventorsPatrick R. Gruber, Jeffrey J. Kolstad, Christopher M. Ryan, Eric S. Hall, Robin S. Eichen Conn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An amorphous film comprised of a lactide polymer. The lactide polymer comprises a plurality of poly(lactide) polymer chains, residual lactide in concentration of less than about 2 percent and water in concentration of less than about 2000 parts-per-million. A process for manufacturing an amorphous film with the lactide polymer composition is also disclosed.
Claims44
An amorphous film exhibiting a net endotherm of less than about 10 joules per gram of poly(lactide) polymer, said film comprising a melt stable, lactide polymer composition, said composition comprising:
- i) a plurality of poly(lactide) polymer chains, said polymer chains being reaction products of polymerizing a lactide mixture comprising greater than about 1 percent by weight meso-lactide, with the remaining lactide being selected from the group consisting of L-lactide, D-lactide and mixtures thereof, said plurality having a number average molecular weight of from about 10,000 to about 300,000;
- ii) residual lactide in a concentration of less than about 2 percent by weight;
- and
- iii) water, if present at all, present in a concentration of less than about 2000 parts per million.
An amorphous noncrystallizable film exhibiting a net endotherm of less than about 10 joules per gram of poly(lactide) polymer, said film comprising a melt stable lactide polymer composition, said composition comprising:
- i) a plurality of poly(lactide) polymer chains, said polymer chains being reaction products of polymerizing a lactide mixture illustrated by the unshaded regions of FIG. 4, said plurality having a number average molecular weight of from about 10,000 to about 300,000;
- ii) residual lactide in a concentration of less than about 2 percent by weight;
- and
- iii) water, if present at all, present in a concentration of less than about 2000 parts per million.
An amorphous, non-crystallizable film made of poly(lactide or poly(lactic acid) wherein sequences of major lactic acid formations have less than 0.5 probability of comprising 10 or more lactic acid residuals.
A process for the manufacture of an amorphous film exhibiting a net endotherm of less than about 10 joules per gram of poly(lactide) polymer, said process comprising the steps of:
- a) providing a melt-stable lactide polymer composition, said composition comprising:
- i) a plurality of poly(lactide) polymer chains, said plurality of polymer chains being reaction products of polymerizing a lactide mixture comprising greater than about 1 percent by weight meso-lactide, with the remaining lactide being selected from the group consisting of L-lactide, D-lactide and mixtures thereof, said plurality of polymer chains having a number average molecular weight of about 10,000 to about 300,000;
- ii) lactide in a concentration of less than about 2 percent by weight;
- and
- iii) water, if present at all, present in a concentration of less than about 2000 parts per million;
- and
- b) extruding said polymer composition into an amorphous film.
An article comprising an amorphous film exhibiting a net endotherm of less than about 10 joules per gram of poly(lactide) polymer, said film comprising a melt stable, lactide polymer composition, said composition comprising:
- i) a plurality of poly(lactide) polymer chains, said polymer chains being reaction products of polymerizing a lactide mixture comprising greater than about 1% by weight meso-lactide, with the remaining lactide being selected from the group consisting of L-lactide, D-lactide and mixtures thereof, said plurality having a number average molecular weight of from about 10,000 to about 300,000;
- ii) residual lactide in a concentration of less than about 2% by weight;
- and,
- iii) water, if present at all, present in a concentration of less than about 2000 parts per million.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.