Patent ID: 7094820

Claim:
A polymer additive composition comprising a nucleating agent which conforms with the structure of Formula (I) wherein M 1 and M 2 are the same or different, or M 1 and M 2 are combined to form a single moiety, and are independently selected from the group consisting of metal or organic cations, and R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 , R 7 , R 8 , R 9 , and R 10 are individually selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, C 1 –C 9 alkyl, hydroxyl, C 1 –C 8 alkoxy, C 1 –C 9 alkyleneoxy, amine, and C 1 –C 9 alkylamine, halogen, phenyl, alkylphenyl, and geminal or vicinal carbocyclic having up to 9 carbon atoms; wherein said nucleating agent induces a peak crystallization temperature of at least 125° C. for a test homopolymer polypropylene formulation comprising said nucleating agent, wherein the unnucleated test homopolymer polypropylene exhibits a density of about 0.9 g/cc, a melt flow of about 12 g/10 min, a Rockwell Hardness (R scale) of about 90, a tensile strength of about 4,931 psi, an elongation at yield of about 10%, a flexural modulus of about 203 ksi, an Izod impact strength of about 0.67 ft-lb/in, and a deflection temperature at 0.46 mPa of about 93° C., and wherein said formulation comprising said nucleating agent is extruded then molded into plaques having dimensions of about 51 mm×76 mm×1.27 mm, wherein said peak crystallization temperature is measured by differential scanning calorimetry in accordance with a modified ASTM Test Method D3417-99 at heating and cooling rates of 20° C./minute, and wherein said nucleating agent also exhibits no appreciable fugitivity from said test homopolymer polypropylene formulation during compounding of said test homopolymer polypropylene formulation comprising said nucleating agent, wherein said additive composition is present in a form selected from the group consisting of a powder, a pellet, and a liquid, and wherein said composition also comprises at least one acid scavenger and optionally comprises at least one thermoplastic polymer and at least one compound selected from the group consisting of plasticizers, antioxidants, antimicrobials, flame retardants, light stabilizers, antistatic agents, blowing agents, colored pigments, and any combination thereof.