Emulsible polyolefin wax

A method of using an emulsifiable polyolefin wax to emulsify substances, said method comprising mixing said emulsifiable polyolefin wax with a second substance in an aqueous medium under conditions sufficient to emulsify both said emulsifiable polyolefin wax and said second substance, said emulsifiable polyolefin wax having a melt viscosity of less than 1,000 cps at 190° C., said emulsifiable polyolefin wax being prepared by reacting maleic anhydride with a starting material of either polypropylene or ethylene-propylene copolymer, wherein the amount of said maleic anhydride added to said starting material is about 0.1% to about 25 wt % of said starting material.

A process of producing the emulsifiable polyolefin wax, said process comprising adding ethylenically unsaturated polycarboxylic compound to an agitated reactor charged with a polyolefin wax having a Gardner color of no greater than about 2, said ethylenically unsaturated polycarboxylic compound being added at a feed rate of about 1 to about 5 wt % of said polyolefin wax per hour under conditions sufficient to form an emulsifiable polyolefin wax having sufficient functionality to be emulsifiable in an aqueous medium, a melt viscosity of less than 1,000 cps at 190° C., a Gardner color index of no greater than about 9, and an emulsion light transmittance of at least 20% at 525 nm with a 20 mm light pathlength in an emulsion comprising about 25 to about 35 wt % emulsifiable war, about 60 to about 65 wt % water, a base sufficient to form an emulsion having a pH of between about 9 and about 10, and about 4 to about 10.5 wt % nonylphenol with 9 moles of ethoxylation, wherein the concentration of said ethylenically unsaturated polycarboxylic compound added to said reactor is about 0.1 to about 25 wt. % of said polyolefin wax, and wherein said polyolefin wax is a polypropylene or ethylene-propylene copolymer wax, and said ethylenically unsaturated polycarboxylic compound is maleic anhydride.