Patent ID: 8519056

Claim:
A polymer composition suitable for molding into structural polyolefin material, which composition comprises: A) from 60 to 95 parts by weight of a completely hydrogenated ethylene-dicyclopentadiene copolymer component having: i) a dicyclopentadiene-derived comonomer content of from 30 mole % to 55 mole % with at least 10% of said dicyclopentadiene-derived comonomers having had residual double bond moieties therein prior to hydrogenation; ii) a weight average molecular weight, M w , of from 100,000 to 800,000 g/mole; and iii) a glass transition temperature, T g , of 105° C. to 170° C.; and B) from 5 to 40 parts by weight of a completely hydrogenated elastomeric polymer: component having a glass transition temperature, T g , which ranges from −70° C. to −5° C.; wherein the polymer composition is prepared by the steps consisting essentially of: 1) co-dissolving the-ethylene-dicyclopentadiene copolymer component and the elastomeric polymer component in a liquid reaction medium, 2) optionally functionalizing from 0.1% to 95% of the residual double bonds a said dicyclopentadiene-derived comonomers before said ethylene-dicyclopentadiene copolymer component is at least partially hydrogenated; 3) completely hydrogenating, in-situ, the ethylene-dicyclopentadiene copolymer component and the elastomeric polymer component by contact with hydrogen within said liquid reaction medium before the ethylene-dicyclopentadiene copolymer component and the elastomeric polymer component have been co-precipitated with a precipitation-inducing agent from said liquid reaction medium; and 4) co-precipitating the polymer composition with a precipitation-inducing agent which renders the polymers components insoluble in said liquid reaction medium.