Patent ID: 8198351

Claim:
A thermoplastic polymer composition comprising: (a) a thermoplastic polymer; and (b) a nucleating agent, the nucleating agent comprising a compound conforming to the structure of one of Formula (I), Formula (II), or Formula (III) below wherein x is a positive integer; R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 10 , R 11 , R 12 , R 13 , R 14 , R 15 , and R 16 are substituents independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydroxyl, C 1 -C 9 alkyl groups, C 1 -C 9 alkenyl groups, C 1 -C 9 alkynyl groups, C 1 -C 9 alkoxy groups, C 1 -C 9 hydroxyalkyl groups, alkyl ether groups, amine groups, C 1 -C 9 alkylamine groups, halogens, aryl groups, alkylaryl groups, and geminal or vicinal carbocyclic groups having up to nine carbon atoms; each M 1 is a cation selected from the group consisting of transition metal cations; y is the valence of the metal cation; b is zero or a positive integer; when b is one or greater, each Q 1 is a negatively-charged counterion and a is the valence of the negatively-charged counterion; and the values of x, y, z, a, and b satisfy the equation x+(ab)=yz.