Abstract:
The present invention relates to polyblends of at least one polymer blended with thermoplastic graft copolymers comprised of copolymeric backbones containing a plurality of uninterrupted repeating units of the backbone polymer and at least one integrally copolymerized moiety per backbone polymer chain having chemically bonded thereto a substantially linear polymer which forms a copolymerized sidechain to the backbone, wherein each of the polymeric sidechains has substantially the same molecular weight and each polymeric sidechain is chemically bonded to only one backbone polymer.
Abstract:
This application discloses a process for preparing a stable latex of a chemically joined, phase separated thermoplastic graft copolymer comprising: (1) copolymerizing: (a) from about 1 to about 95 percent by weight of a polymerizable macromolecular monomer comprising a linear polymer or copolymer having a molecular weight in the range of from about 5,000 to about 50,000 and having a substantially uniform molecular weight distribution, such that its ratio of Mw/Mn is less than about 1.1, said macromolecular monomer being further characterized as having no more than one polymerizable moiety per linear polymer of copolymer chain, said polymerizable moiety being on the end of the chain: and (b) from about 99 to about 5 percent by weight of at least one copolymerizable comonomer, said copolymerizable comonomers forming the polymeric backbones of said graft copolymer and said polymerizable macromolecular monomers forming the linear polymeric sidechains of said graft copolymer, and the linear polymeric sidechains of the graft copolymer are copolymerized into the backbone polymer through the polymerizable end group on said macromolecular monomer, and wherein said copolymerizable comonomer units of the backbone are comprised of polymerized ethylenically-unsaturated monomers, the linear polymeric sidechains of the graft copolymer which are copolymerized into the copolymeric backbone are separated by at least about 20 uninterrupted recurring monomeric units of said backbone polymer; the copolymerization and distribution of the sidechains along the backbone polymers being controlled by the relative reactivity ratios of the polymerizable end group on said macromolecular monomer and said copolymerizable comonomer; (2) said copolymerization being conducted in an aqueous latex copolymerization medium, wherein said polymerizable macromolecular monomer is dissolved in a small amount of a solvent therefor, and said solvent and polymerizable macromolecular monomer are emulsified in water by the action of an emulsifying agent during the copolymerization with said copolymerizable comonomer, said copolymerization being initiated by a polymerization catalyst which is soluble in the organic phase of the polymerization system; and (3) stopping the copolymerization prior to the formation of substantial amounts of homopolymers of said backbone polymer to thereby obtain a stable latex of a substantially pure, chemically joined, phase separated thermoplastic graft copolymer.
Abstract:
The present invention relates to chemically joined, phase separated graft copolymers comprised of copolymeric backbones containing a plurality of uninterrupted repeating units of a backbone polymer and at least one integrally copolymerized moiety per backbone polymer chain having chemically bonded thereto a substantially linear polymer which forms a copolymerized sidechain to the backbone, wherein each of the polymeric sidechains has substantially the same molecular weight and each polymeric sidechain is chemically bonded to only one backbone polymer, and said polymeric sidechains are further characterized as having at least two polymeric segments in the form of a diblock or triblock polymer.