Method of improving scratch resistance and related products and uses

A process for improving the scratch resistance of a rubber modified polymer, which process comprises mixing

• polytetrafluoroethylene as a friction reducing agent,
• a grafted polymer,
• an unsaturated fatty acid amide,
• a filler, and
• optionally, one or more further additives,
• with a rubber modified polymer,
• in respective amounts to obtain a composition comprising
• 20 to 98 weight % of the rubber modified polymer,
• 0.2 to 40 weight % of the grafted polymer,
• 0.1 to 10 weight % of the friction reducing agent,
• 0.1 to 1 weight % of the unsaturated fatty acid amide, and
• 5 to 40 weight % of the filler,
• optionally 0.01 to 5 weight % of the one or more further additives,
• wherein the grafted polymer has a backbone selected from the group consisting of polypropylene, polyisobutylene, polyethylene, mixtures of polypropylene with polyisobutylene, mixtures of polypropylene with polyethylene, mixtures of different types of polyethylene, ethylene/propylene copolymers, propylene/but-1-ene copolymers, propylene/isobutylene copolymers, ethylene/but-1-ene copolymers, ethylene/hexene copolymers, ethylene/methylpentene copolymers, ethylene/heptene copolymers, ethylene/octene copolymers, propylene/butadiene copolymers, isobutylene/isoprene copolymers, ethylene-/alkyl acrylate copolymers, ethylene/alkyl methacrylate copolymers, ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymers, polymers of ethylene with propylene and hexadiene, polymers of ethylene with propylene and dicyclopentadiene, polymers of ethylene with propylene and ethylidene-norbornene, polystyrene, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene polymers, styrene-butadiene-styrene triblock copolymers, styrene-acrylonitrile copolymers, acrylonitrile-acrylate elastomer-styrene copolymers, ethylene-propylene-diene copolymers, copolymers of ethylene with higher alpha-olefins, polybutadiene, polyisoprene, styrene-butadiene copolymers, hydrogenated styrene-butadiene copolymers, styrene-isoprene copolymers and hydrogenated styrene-isoprene copolymers;
• wherein the backbones are grafted with an unsaturated carboxylic acid monomer selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, cyanoacrylic acid, maleic acid, 2-methyl maleic acid, 2-ethyl-maleic acid, 2-phenyl-maleic acid, 2,3-dimethyl maleic acid, fumaric acid and mixtures thereof;
• or with an anhydride or an ester of said monomers;
• or with a vinyl aromatic compound;
• or with two or more monomers selected from the group consisting of said unsaturated carboxylic acid monomers, esters thereof and the vinyl aromatic compound;
• and
• wherein the rubber modified polymer is a mixture of a polymer and a rubber-like component, where the polymer is a polypropylene, a styrene comprising polymer, a polyester, a polyamide, a copolyether amide, a copolyester amide, a thermoplastic elastomer on urethane basis, a polycarbonate, a polycarbonate/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene blend, an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene/poly(butylenes terephthalate) blend, poly(vinyl chloride), poly(vinyl chloride)/acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene blend, poly(vinyl chloride)/acrylonitrile-strene-acrylate blend, acrylate-modified poly(vinyl chloride) or an ionomer;
• and
• the rubber-like component is an ethylene-α-olefin copolymer rubber, an ethylene-α-olefin-non-conjugated diene copolymer, natural rubber, isobutene rubber, butadiene rubber, polyisoprene, 1,2-polybutadiene, styrene-butadiene random copolymer rubber, chloroprene rubber, nitrile rubber, styrene-isoprene copolymer, styrene-isoprene-styrene block copolymer rubber, ethylvinyl-acetate copolymer, hydrogenated styrene-butadiene copolymers, hydrogenated styrene-isoprene copolymers or mixtures of two or more thereof.