Method for exfoliating organoclay to produce a nanocomposite
AssigneeUnion Carbide Chemicals & Plastics Technology Corporation
InventorsRobert F. Eaton, Mohamed Esseghir
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Abstract
Nano-composites that comprise a thermoplastic polymer (TPO) and an exfoliated organoclay are prepared by a method comprising contacting under exfoliating conditions at least one molten TPO polymer with at least one organoclay and at least one exfoliating agent of H-TEMPO or an amine precursor to H-TEMPO such that the exfoliating agent exfoliates the organoclay.
Claims18
A method to produce a nano-composite that comprises a thermoplastic olefin (TPO) polymer and an exfoliated organoclay, the method comprising:
- contacting at least one molten TPO polymer with at least one organoclay by mixing the organoclay with the molten TPO polymer;
- dispersing the organoclay within the molten TPO polymer to obtain a molten TPO polymer/organoclay blend;
- adding at least one exfoliating agent of 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-oxyl (H-TEMPO) or an amine precursor to H-TEMPO to the molten TPO polymer/organoclay blend;
- mixing the exfoliating agent with the TPO polymer/organoclay blend by mechanical shearing such that the exfoliating agent exfoliates the organoclay;
- and
- forming a nano-composite having delaminated organoclay, wherein the organoclay is present in an amount from 0.125 to 0.25 wt % based on the total weight of the nano-composite.
A method to produce a nano-composite that comprises a thermoplastic olefin (TPO) polymer and an exfoliated organoclay, the method comprising:
- contacting at least one molten TPO polymer with at least one organoclay by mixing the organoclay with the molten TPO polymer;
- dispersing the organoclay within the molten TPO polymer to obtain a molten TPO polymer/organoclay blend;
- adding at least one exfoliating agent of 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidin-1-oxyl (H-TEMPO) or an amine precursor to H-TEMPO to the molten TPO polymer/organoclay blend;
- mixing the exfoliating agent with the TPO polymer/organoclay blend by mechanical shearing such that the exfoliating agent exfoliates the organoclay;
- and
- forming a nano-composite having delaminated organoclay,
- wherein the organoclay is (i) present in an amount from 2-6 wt % based on the total weight of the nano-composite or (ii) present in an amount of less than 1 wt % based on the total weight of the nano-composite.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.