Patent GB-1057434-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to compositions containing ethylenically unsaturated monomers
Inventor: OGLE HARLAN VANCE
IPC: C08F291/00
Filed: 1963-07-18
Abstract: Solid shaped articles are made by forming into a desired shape a liquid ethylenic monomer whose addition polymers are insoluble therein and another polymeric material soluble therein which is present in an amount sufficient to impart the desired viscosity to the solution, and immediately thereafter effecting polymerization of the composition.  Ethylenic monomers specified are acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, vinylidene cyanide, vinyl and vinylidene fluorides and chlorides and tetrafluorethylene. These monomers may be used in combination with other mono- or di-unsaturated ethylenic monomers to form monomer mixtures whose copolymers are insoluble therein. The polymer dissolved in the monomer may be a polymer of a vinyl or acrylic compound, a polydiene, a polyester, a polyamide, a polyurethane, a polysulphide, a polyepoxide, a polyacetal, a polyanhydride or a cellulose ether or ester.  The monomer-polymer solutions may be made either by dissolving preformed polymer in monomer or by partially polymerizing a mixture of monomers to form a solution of copolymer in monomer.  The polymerization of the monomer-polymer solutions may be initiated by means of peroxy or azo compounds or ultraviolet light, and fillers, e.g. glass fibres, talc and asbestos, may be added to the solutions.  The shaped articles made by polymerization of the solutions may be fibres, films, coatings and laminates, e.g. those made by impregnating glass fibres with a monomer-polymer solution, which is then polymerized.  Examples describe polymerizing solutions of: (a) acrylonitrile containing butadiene/acrylonitrile copolymers, polyvinyl pyrrolidone, polyvinyl acetate, polyvinyl butyral, methacrylated polyvinyl butyral, methacrylated cotton, a hexafluoropropylene/vinylidene fluoride copolymer, an air-oxidized acrylonitrile/alpha - methyl - p - isopropyl-styrene copolymer, poly(betamethoxy-ethylacrylate) and a polyurethane rubber; (b) polyvinyl butyral in vinylidene chloride and a mixture thereof with acrylonitrile, and a mixture of acrylonitrile and ethylene bis-acrylate; and (c) cellulose acetate in N-vinylmethylformamide. The examples describe also the preparation of polymerizable solutions by the partial copolymerization of: (i) acrylonitrile and butadiene with, as optional third monomers, vinyl and vinylidene chlorides, methacrylonitrile, acrylic and itaconic acids, methyl acrylate, glycidyl and butylaminoethyl methacrylates, vinyl acetate, styrene and alpha-methylstyrene; (ii) acrylonitrile and isoprene with ethylvinyl and allyglycidyl ethers and methacrylonitrile as optional third monomers; (ii) acrylonitrile and styrene with ar- and alpha-methylstyrenes with methyl methacrylate and methallylacrylate as optional third monomers; (iii) acrylonitrile and isobutylene with methyl methacrylate as an optional third monomer; and (iv) acrylonitrile and methyl methacrylate or 1,3-cyclohexadiene.  Other polymer-monomer compositions are described (see Division C3), and coatings may also be cast on to wood and metal.ALSO:Shaped articles are made by applying to a substrate, e.g. paper or a textile material, a solution of a polymer in a liquid ethylenic monomer whose addition polymers are insoluble therein, and polymerizing the monomer to produce a solid coating or impregnation on or in the substrate.  Examples describe: (48) applying to paper a solution of a butadiene/acryonitrile copolymer in acrylonitrile and irradiating the paper enclosed between glass sheets with UV light to produce a paper having a translucent coating, and (57) impregnating glass fabric with a solution of an acryonitrile/isobutylene/methyl methacrylate copolymer in acrylonitrile and irradiating the fabric with UV light to yield a hard translucent material.