Highly versatile thermoplastic nucleators

A thermoplastic article comprising a nucleating agent which induces a crystallization cycle time (t½) of at most 2.0 minutes in a test homopolymer polypropylene formulation comprising said nucleating agent, wherein the unnucleated test homopolymer propylene exhibits a density of about 0.9 g/cc, a melt flow of about 12 g/10 mm, a Rockwell Hardness (R scale) of about 90, a tensile strength of about 4,931 psi, an elongation at yield of about 10%, a flexural modulus of about 203 ksi, an Izod impact strength of about 0.67 ft-lb/in, and a deflection temperature at 0.46 mPa of about 93° C., and wherein said formulation comprising said nucleating agent is extruded then molded into plaques having dimensions of about 51 mm×76 mm×1.27 mm, wherein said t½ cycle time is measured by differential scanning calorimetry at a constant crystallization temperature of about 140° C., and wherein said nucleator also exhibits no appreciable fugitivity from said polypropylene formulation during compounding of said test homopolymer polypropylene formulation comprising said nucleating agent.

The thermoplastic article of claim wherein said bicyclic compound conforms to the structure of Formula (I)

• wherein M1 and M2 are the same or different, or M1 and M2 are combined to from a single moiety, and are independently selected from the group consisting of metal or organic cations, and R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, R7, R8, R9, and R10 are individually selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, C1-C9 alkyl, hydroxyl, C1-C9 alkoxy, C1-C9 alkoxy, C1-C9 alkyleneoxy, amine, and C1-C9 alkylamine, halogen, phenyl, alkylphenyl, and geminal or vicinal carbocyclic having up to nine carbon atoms.

A thermoplastic article comprising a nucleating agent which produces an effective nucleation density of greater than 7×109 nuclei/cm3 at an isothermal crystallization temperature of about 148° C. in a test homopolymer polypropylene formulation comprising said nucleating agent, wherein the unnucleated test homopolymer propylene exhibits a density of about 0.9 g/cc, a melt flow of about 12 g/10 mm, a Rockwell Hardness (R scale) of about 90, a tensile strength of about 4,931 psi, an elongation at yield) of about 10%, a flexural modulus of about 203 ksi, an Izod impact strength of about 0.67 ft-lb/in, and a deflection temperature at 0.46 mPa of about 930, and wherein said formulation is extruded then molded into plaques having dimensions of about 51 mm×76 mm×1.27 mm, and wherein said nucleating agent also exhibits no appreciable fugitivity from said test homopolymer polypropylene formulation during compounding of said test homopolymer polypropylene formulation comprising said nucleating agent.

A thermoplastic article comprising a nucleating agent which exhibits a nucleation effectiveness factor (NEF) of greater than 0.06 in a test homopolymer polypropylene formulation having a density of about 0.9 g/cc, a melt flow of about 12 g/10 mm, a Rockwell Hardness (R scale) of about 90, a tensile strength of about 4,931 psi, an elongation at yield of about 10%, a flexural modulus of about 203 ksi, an Izod impact strength of about 0.67 ft-lb/in, and a deflection temperature of 0.46 mPa at about 93° C., wherein said formulation is extruded and then molded into plaques having dimensions of about 51 mm×76 mm×1.27 mm.