Antistatic polymeric compositions

Abstract: An antistatic polymeric composition comprising a base polymer, constituting 20 to 98.9 per cent by weight of the composition, includes both a surface active agent constituting 0.1 to 30 per cent by weight of the composition and an antistatic additive constituting 1 to 50 per cent by weight of the composition. The surface active agent comprises at least one compound selected from an amino, sulphonyl or phosphonyl titanate, zirconate or zircoaluminate and the antistatic additive is a polymer derived from ethylene oxide and at least one other monomer selected from an epihalohydrin, propylene oxide, and a cyclic monomer. The composition preferably contains a compatabilizer. Optionally, the composition may contain a mineral filler, constituting 0.1 to 70 per cent by weight of the composition, such as a metal oxide, for example an oxide of titanium, zinc, tin, antimony or aluminium, a metal silicate, aluminosilicate or carbonate or silicon oxide. The base polymer may be a homopolymer or copolymer of ethylene, propylene or styrene, an aliphatic or aromatic polyester, a polyamide, a polycarbonate or an elastomer or a combination of more than one of these. The antistatic polymeric composition should have surface resistivity of the order of 10¹⁰ ohm/sq.

Description: Antistatic additives for polymers, to produce antistatic polymeric compositions, are known which comprise polymers derived from ethylene oxide and at least one other monomer selected from an epihalohydrin, propylene oxide and a cyclic monomer represented by the formula : containing up to 25 carbon atoms, wherein R₁, R₂, R₃ and R₄ are selected from hydrogen, saturated aliphatic and cycloaliphatic, monoolefinic aliphatic and cycloaliphatic, diolefinic (conjugated and non-conjugated) aliphatic and cycloaliphatic, aromatic, aralkyl and alkaryl groups and wherein at least one of R₁, R₂, R₃ and R₄ is not hydrogen. U.S. Patent Specification No. 4,931,506, assigned to The B.F. Goodrich Company, discloses an antistatic additive for polyvinyl chloride or other chlorine-containing polymers or polystyrene or other styrene-containing polymers, including but not limited to polymers of styrene and acrylonitrile such as acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene or mixtures thereof. The antistatic additive is a copolymer containing at least 60 per cent by weight and preferably at least 80 per cent by weight of ethylene oxide with a remainder being epihalohydrin. The additive is semicrystalline and is employed in polymeric compositions in a range of from about 3 per cent to about 35 per cent by weight and the polymeric materials mentioned are employed in a range from about 65 per cent to about 97 per cent by weight. According to the said Specification, the polymeric compositions described can have surface resistivities down to about 10¹² ohm/sq. U.S. Patent Specification No. 4,719,263, also assigned to The B.F. Goodrich Company, discloses the use of such antistatic additives in polyvinyl chloride, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene and nylon polymeric materials. U.S. Patent Specification No. 5,010,139, also assigned to The B.F. Goodrich Company, discloses the use of a solid nonionic high molecular weight copolymer of ethylene oxide as an antistatic additive in various polymeric materials, such as polyvinyl chloride, terpolymer of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, chlorinated polyvinyl chloride, polyamides such as nylon 66, polyesters and polycarbonates. Commercially-available antistatic materials sold by The B.F. Goodrich Company under their Trade Mark "Stat-Rite" are believed to be antistatic additives as described in the above-mentioned Specifications. We have found that antistatic additives as described above can be used with polypropylene and other polymers not mentioned in the above Specifications to produce antistatic polymeric compositions. For example, with 40% Stat-Rite C-2100 in polypropylene, surface resistivity of about 10⁹ ohm/sq. can be obtained. However, the composition has poor mechanical properties and if used for moulding produces articles with poor strength and surface blemishes. Other known antistatic agents for use in polymers to produce antistatic polymeric compositions are surface active agents. By a surface active agent we mean a material the molecule of which contains a functional group capable of forming hydrogen bonds or charged species with hydroxyl groups present in organic molecules or on the surface of an inorganic particle having surface hydroxyl functionality. Preferred functional groups in the molecule are those containing nitrogen, sulphur and phosphorus atoms which are indirectly linked by organometallic species based on titanates, zirconates or zircoaluminates. According to this invention an antistatic polymeric composition comprising a base polymer, constituting 20 to 98.9 per cent by weight of the composition, is characterised by the presence of both a surface active agent constituting 0.1 to 30 per cent by weight of the composition and an antistatic additive constituting 1 to 50 per cent by weight of the composition, the surface active agent comprising at least one compound selected from an amino, sulphonyl or phosphonyl titanate, zirconate or zircoaluminate and the antistatic additive being a polymer derived from ethylene oxide and at least one other monomer selected from an epihalohydrin, propylene oxide, and a cyclic monomer represented by the formula : containing up to 25 carbon atoms, wherein R₁, R₂, R₃ and R₄ are selected from hydrogen, saturated aliphatic and cycloaliphatic, monoolefinic aliphatic and cycloaliphatic, diolefinic (conjugated and non-conjugated) aliphatic and cycloaliphatic, aromatic, aralkyl and alkaryl groups and wherein at least one of R₁, R₂, R₃ and R₄ is not hydrogen. Preferred antistatic additives are polymers derived from ethylene oxide and either an epihalohydrin or propylene oxide and, optionally in either case, the said cyclic monomer. The antistatic polymeric composition may include a compatabilizer, constituting from 1 to 10 per cent of the composition, to promote blending of the polymer with the surface active agent and the antistatic additive, the compatibilizer having functional groups containing at least one of the following : ester, carboxylic acid, anhydride, amino, amine (primary, secondary or tertiary), amide, sulphonyl, cyclic ether or nitrogen. The surface active agent may be a combination of an amino titanate and a sulphonyl titanate. It may, for example, be a combination of two or more compounds selected from amino titanates, sulphonyl titanates, amino zirconates and sulphonyl zirconates. Such materials are described as "antistatic agents" in U.S. Patent Specification No. 4,715,968, assigned to Kenrich Petrochemicals Inc. A preferred surface active agent has the formula either ROM (A) a (B) b (C) c or where M is titanium or zirconium, R is a monovalent alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aralkyl, aryl or alkaryl group having up to 20 carbon atoms or an ether substituted derivative thereof and A is either an oxyalkyl amino, an oxyaryl amino or a sulphonyl group; B and C are each independently oxyalkyl amino, oxyaryl amino, sulphonyl, a monovalent aroxy, thioaroxy, diester phosphate, diester pyrophosphate or a carboxyl group each containing up to 30 carbon atoms; a is 1 to 3, b + c is 0 to 2, a + b + c is 3, R' is hydrogen or an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, B is a R'C or a carbonyl group, n is 1 or 2, d is 1 or 2 and d + e is 2. The antistatic polymeric composition may include a powdered mineral filler, constituting 0.1 to 70 per cent by weight of the composition. The filler may be, for example, a metal oxide such as an oxide of titanium, zinc, tin, antimony or aluminium, or silicon oxide or a metal silicate, aluminosilicate or carbonate. The base polymer may be a thermoplastic comprising at least one of ethylene homopolymers and copolymers, propylene homopolymers and copolymers, styrene homopolymers and copolymers, aliphatic and aromatic polyesters, polyamides, polycarbonates and elastomers. However, it is believed that other thermoplastic polymers may be used, including all those mentioned in the above-mentioned U.S. Patent Specifications Nos. 4,715,968, 4,719,263, 4,931,506, and 5,010,139. Surprisingly, although both antistatic additives and surface active agents as described above are known to be capable of producing polymeric compositions having antistatic properties, we believe that it has not previously been proposed to use both together. The result of that step has been to produce antistatic polymeric compositions having lower resistivities and/or better mechanical properties than can be produced by the use of either antistatic additive or surface active agent alone. Furthermore, when a metal oxide is included the useful lifetime of the antistatic polymeric compositions can be prolonged. According to British Standard Specification No. BS 5753 and European Standard No. CECC00015 a static dissipative material should have surface resistivity below 10¹⁰ ohm/sq. By the useful lifetime of a conductive polymeric composition we mean the time during which the surface resistivity (measured by the method specified in DIN Specification No. 53482) remains below that figure. The invention will be illustrated by reference to the following compositions, in which composition 1 is an example of a conductive polymeric composition according to the invention and compositions 2 and 3 are comparative examples in which, respectively, the antistatic additive and the surface active agent were omitted. The compositions are shown in Table 1. Compositions 1 to 3 - the numbers indicate percentages by weight. Composition 1 2 3 Base polymer - Polypropylene 54 84 48 Antistatic additive - Stat-Rite C-2100 30 40 Surface active agent - Ken-Stat KSN100 4 4 Powdered titanium dioxide 5 5 5 Compatibilizer (Bennett GR 110) 5 5 5 Coloured pigment 2 2 2 "Ken-Stat" is a Trade Mark of Kenrich Petrochemicals Inc. Ken-Stat KSN100 is a mixture of titanium IV neoalkoxy, tris (dodecyl phenyl) sulphato-O and titanium IV amino alkoxy compound with the chemical structure : where RO is the alkoxy group. "Stat-Rite" is a Trade Mark of The B.F. Goodrich Company. Stat-Rite C-2100 is believed to be a terpolymer comprising ethylene oxide, epichlorohydrin and the above-mentioned cyclic monomer. Four similar test pieces were produced from each of the compositions 1 to 3 by injection moulding. The test pieces produced from composition 3 exhibited severe delamination and surface defects under all moulding conditions, whereas those produced from composition 1 showed neither delamination nor surface defects. Each test piece was subjected to an extended surface resistivity test. The surface resistivity of the test piece was first measured (by the method specified in DIN Specification No. 53482) under ambient conditions and then the test piece was placed in a controlled atmosphere at 90°C and 20% Relative Humidity. After 24 hours the surface resistivity was again measured and thereafter it was measured from time to time. The test piece was then withdrawn from the controlled atmosphere and allowed to return to ambient conditions over a 24-hour period, after which a final measurement was made. The accompanying drawing is a graphical representation of the results of the tests, each of the three lines, numbered 1, 2 and 3, indicating the average of the measurements made on the four test pieces moulded from the respective composition. It will be observed that during the initial 24-hour period the resistivity of each composition decreased and thereafter there was a progressive increase. Composition 1 exhibited the lowest resistivities throughout the test, showing an initial resistivity of 0.18 x 10¹⁰ ohm/sq. under ambient conditions, falling to 0.02 x 10¹⁰ ohm/sq. as it reached the test conditions and reaching a maximum of 0.08 x 10¹⁰ ohm/sq. at the end of the 1000 hour period before rising to 0.4 x 10¹⁰ ohm/sq. as it returned to ambient conditions. Composition 2 soon exceeded 1 x 10¹⁰ ohm/sq., so could not be considered a satisfactory static dissipative material. Composition 3 showed resistivities not substantially greater than those of Composition 1, but suffered from delamination and surface defects as previously mentioned. Further comparison between compositions according to the invention and similar compositions from which either the antistatic additive or the surface active agent has been omitted is made with reference to compositions 4 to 29. From Table 2 it is evident that Compositions 6, 7, 10 and 11, which contain both an antistatic additive and a surface active agent in accordance with the invention, have clear advantages over Compositions 4, 5, 8 and 9 which do not contain a surface active agent. Notably they show significantly lower surface resistivity, within the range required by BS 5753 and CECC00015 for a static dissipative material, and/or improved impact strength. Compositions 7 and 11 demonstrate the further improvement in impact strength obtained by including a compatabilizer. Compositions 12 to 21, the numbers indicate percentages by weight : Composition 12 13 14 15 Base polymer - Low density polyethylene 98 70 68 63 Antistatic additive - Hydrin C65 30 30 30 Surface active agent - Ken-Stat KSN100 2 2 2 Filler - Powdered titanium dioxide 5 Surface resistivity (ohm/sq. x 10¹⁰) >20 >20 0.21 0.1 Composition 16 17 18 Base polymer - Crystal polystyrene 93 65 63 Antistatic additive - Hydrin C65 30 30 Surface active agent - Ken-Stat KSN100 2 2 Compatibilizer (Bennett GR 110) 5 5 5 Surface resistivity (ohm/sq. x 10¹⁰) >20 12 0.09 Composition 19 20 21 Base polymer - Ethylene vinyl acetate UL 00218 (18% VA) (Exxon) 98 70 68 Antistatic additive - Hydrin C65 30 30 Surface active agent - Ken-Stat KSN100 2 2 Surface resistivity (ohm/sq. x 10¹⁰) >20 >20 0.1 The surface resistivity measurements were made several days after preparation of the test specimens to allow for ageing. From Table 3 it is seen that Compositions 14, 15, 18 and 21 embodying the invention have surface resistivities conforming to BS 5753 and CECC00015 for static dissipative materials whereas the other compositions have much higher resistivities. Compositions 22 to 25, the numbers indicate percentages by weight : Composition 22 23 24 25 Base polymer - Ethylene vinyl acetate UL 00218 (18% VA) (Exxon) 78 88 78 70 Surface active agent - Ken-Stat KSQ70 15 10 10 Antistatic additive - Stat-Rite C-2100 5 5 8 Filler - Powdered titanium dioxide 5 5 5 5 Compatibilizer (Bennett GR 110) 5 Pigment MB 2 2 2 2 Surface resistivity (ohm/sq. x 10¹⁰) (measured after several days) 10 20 0.5 0.2 Compositions 26 to 29, the numbers indicate percentages by weight : Composition 26 27 28 29 Base polymer - Ethylene vinyl acetate UL 00218 (18% VA) (Exxon) 67 Ethylene vinyl acetate UL 00226 (Exxon) 75 71 77 Surface active agent - Ken-Stat KSQ70 20 20 20 10 Antistatic additive - Stat-Rite C-2100 2 2 1 2 Filler - Powdered titanium dioxide 5 2 2 5 Compatibiliser (Bennett GR 110) 5 5 5 Pigment MB 1 1 1 1 Surface resistivity (ohm/sq. x 10¹⁰) (measured after several days) 0.11 0.12 0.4 0.18 Tables 4 and 5 further demonstrate that compositions embodying the invention, 24, 25 and 26 to 29 show significantly improved conductivity (lower resistivity), complying with BS 5753 and CECC00015 for static dissipative materials, compared with compositions which contain either a surface active agent or an antistatic additive but not both. Collectively, the five tables show that formulations showing this effect may have proportions of surface active agent and antistatic additive varied within wide limits and may employ a variety of base polymers.

Claims: An antistatic polymeric composition comprising a base polymer, constituting 20 to 98.9 per cent by weight of the composition, characterised by the presence of both a surface active agent constituting 0.1 to 30 per cent by weight of the composition and an antistatic additive constituting 1 to 50 per cent by weight of the composition, wherein the surface active agent comprises at least one compound selected from an amino, sulphonyl or phosphonyl titanate, zirconate or zircoaluminate and the antistatic additive is a polymer derived from ethylene oxide and at least one other monomer selected from an epihalohydrin, propylene oxide and a cyclic monomer represented by the formula : containing up to 25 carbon atoms, wherein R₁, R₂, R₃ and R₄ are selected from hydrogen, saturated aliphatic and cycloaliphatic, monoolefinic aliphatic and cycloaliphatic, diolefinic (conjugated and non-conjugated) aliphatic and cycloaliphatic, aromatic, aralkyl and alkaryl groups and wherein at least one of R₁, R₂, R₃ and R₄ is not hydrogen. An antistatic polymeric composition as claimed in Claim 1 characterised in that the antistatic additive is a polymer derived from ethylene oxide and either an epihalohydrin or propylene oxide and, optionally in either case, the said cyclic monomer. An antistatic polymeric composition as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 characterised by including a compatabilizer constituting from 1 to 10 per cent of the composition, the compatibilizer having functional groups containing at least one of the following : ester, carboxylic acid, anhydride, amino, amine (primary, secondary or tertiary), amide, sulphonyl, cyclic ether or nitrogen. An antistatic polymeric composition as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 3 characterised in that the surface active agent is a combination of an amino titanate and a sulphonyl titanate. An antistatic polymeric composition as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 3 characterised in that the surface active agent is a combination of two or more compounds selected from amino titanates, sulphonyl titanates, amino zirconates and sulphonyl zirconates. An antistatic polymeric composition as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 3 characterised in that the surface active agent has the formula either ROM (A) a (B) b (C) c or where M is titanium or zirconium, R is a monovalent alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aralkyl, aryl or alkaryl group having up to 20 carbon atoms or an ether substituted derivative thereof and A is either an oxyalkyl amino, an oxyaryl amino or a sulphonyl group; B and C are each independently oxyalkyl amino, oxyaryl amino, sulphonyl, a monovalent aroxy, thioaroxy, diester phosphate, diester pyrophosphate or a carboxyl group each containing up to 30 carbon atoms; a is 1 to 3, b + c is 0 to 2, a + b + c is 3, R' is hydrogen or an alkyl group having 1 to 6 carbon atoms, B is a R'C or a carbonyl group, n is 1 or 2, d is 1 or 2 and d + e is 2. An antistatic polymeric composition as claimed in any preceding claim characterised by including a powdered mineral filler, constituting 0.1 to 70 per cent by weight of the composition. An antistatic polymeric composition as claimed in Claim 7 characterised in that the mineral filler is a metal oxide, silicate, aluminosilicate or carbonate or silicon oxide. An antistatic polymeric composition as claimed in Claim 8 characterised in that the metal oxide is an oxide of titanium, zinc, tin, antimony or aluminium. An antistatic polymeric composition as claimed in any preceding claim characterised in that the base polymer is a thermoplastic comprising at least one of ethylene homopolymers and copolymers, propylene homopolymers and copolymers, styrene homopolymers and copolymers, aliphatic and aromatic polyesters, polyamides, polycarbonates and elastomers. An antistatic polymeric composition as claimed in any preceding claim characterised by including a pigment.

Inventors: GUILFOY ANDREW AUSTIN, WHITEHOUSE ROBERT SYDNEY, GUILFOY, ANDREW AUSTIN, WHITEHOUSE, ROBERT SYDNEY
Applicants: CABOT PLASTICS LTD, CABOT PLASTICS LIMITED
Application year: 1992
Main classification: C08L101
IPC codes: C08L71, C08L101, C08G65, C08K5