Mineral-reinforced impact-resistant modified polycarbonate blends

1. A thermoplastic molding composition comprising

A) at least one resin selected from the group consisting of polycarbonate and polyester carbonate

B) impact resistance modifier, and

C) wollastonite having carbon content greater than 0.1% relative to the weight of the wollastonite as determined by elemental analysis.

2. The composition according to claim 1 , in which the carbon content is 0.2 to 2%.

3. The composition according to claim 1 , in which the carbon content is 0.3 to 0.6%.

4. The composition according to claim 1 wherein the resin is present in an amount of 30 to 85 parts by weight and the impact modifier is present in an amount of 1 to 50 parts by weight and the wollastonite is present in an amount of 2 to 20 parts by weight, the impact modifier being a graft polymer having a graft base the glass transition temperature of the graft base being lower than 10° C., the sum total of the parts by weight of all components being 100.

5. The composition according to claim 1 further containing at least one member selected from the group consisting of vinyl (co)polymer, polyalkylene terephthalate, flameproofing agent lubricant, mold release agent, nucleating agent, antistatic, stabilizer, filler, reinforcing substance dyes and pigments.

6. The composition according to claim 1 in which the wollastonite has a mean aspect ratio greater than 6 and a mean fiber diameter of 1 to 15 μm.

7. The composition according to claim 1 in which the wollastonite has a mean aspect ratio ≧7 and a mean fiber diameter of 4 to 8 μm.

8. The composition according to claim 1 wherein impact resistance modifier is a graft polymer of at least one vinyl monomer, B.1 grafted on a graft base, B.2, the graft base having glass transition temperature <−20° C.

9. The composition according to claim 8 , wherein the graft polymer is of 5 to 95 percent of at least one vinyl monomer, B.1, grafted on 95 to 5 percent of a graft base, B.2, the percent both occurences being relative to the weight of the graft polymer.

10. The composition according to claim 9 , in which the vinyl monomer, B.1 is at lease one member selected from the group consisting of vinyl aromatic compound, nuclear-substituted vinyl aromatic compound, methacrylic acid-(C 1 –C 8 )-alkyl ester, acrylic acid-(C 1 –C 8 )-alkyl ester, vinyl cyanide and a derivatives of unsaturated carboxylic acid.

11. Composition according to claim 10 , in which the vinyl monomer, B.1 is a mixture of

B.1.1 50 to 99 wt. % (referred to B.1) of at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of vinyl aromatic compound, nuclear-substituted vinyl aromatic compound, methacrylic acid-(C 1 –C 8 )-alkyl ester and acrylic acid-(C 1 –C 8 )-alkyl ester and

B.1.2 1 to 50 wt. % (referred to B.1) of at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of vinyl cyanide, methacrylic acid-(C 1 –C 8 )-alkyl ester, acrylic acid-(C 1 –C 8 )-alkyl ester, and derivative of unsaturated carboxylic acid.

12. The composition according to claim 11 , in which B.1.1 is styrene and B.1.2 is acrylonitrile.

13. The composition according to claim 8 in which the graft base B.2 is at least one rubber selected from the group consisting of diene, acrylate, silicone and EPDM.

14. The composition according to claim 13 , in which the graft base is polybutadiene or a butadiene/styrene copolymer.

15. The composition according to claim 5 , in which the vinyl (co)polymer is formed from

50 to 99 wt. % (referred to the weight of the vinyl (co)polymer) of at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of vinyl aromatic compound, nuclear-substituted vinyl aromatic compound, methacrylic acid-(C 1 –C 8 )-alkyl ester and acrylic acid-(C 1 –C 8 )-alkyl ester, and

1 to 50 wt. % (referred to the weight of the vinyl (co)polymer) of at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of vinyl cyanide, methacrylic acid -(C 1 –C 8 )-alkyl ester, acrylic acid-(C 1 –C 8 )-alkyl ester and derivative of unsaturated carboxylic acid.

16. The composition according to claim 1 further containing a phosphorus compound of the formula (IV)

in which

R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 independently of one another in each case denote C 1 to C 8 -alkyl, C 5 to C 6 -cycloalkyl, C 6 to C 20 -aryl or C 7 to C 12 -aralkyl in each case optionally substituted by alkyl and/or halogen,

n independently of one another is 0 or 1

q is 0 to 30, and

X denotes a mononuclear or polynuclear aromatic radical with 6 to 30 C atoms, or a linear or branched aliphatic radical with 2 to 30 C atoms, which may be OH-substituted and may contain up to 8 ether bonds.

17. The composition according to claim 16 , in which X denotes a member selected from the group consisting of

18. The composition according to claim 16 containing

35 to 80 parts by weight of component A)

2 to 35 parts by weight of component B)

3 to 18 parts by weight of component C)

1 to 40 parts by weight of the phosphorus compound, and

0.05 to 1 part by weight of a fluorinated polyolefin,

in which the sum total of the parts by weight of the components is 100.

19. The composition according to claim 1 further containing at least one additive selected from the group consisting of lubricant, mold release agent, nucleating agent, antistatic, stabilizer, filler, reinforcing substance, dyes and pigments.

20. A method of using the composition according to claim 1 comprising producing a molded article.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein article is an external part of a vehicle body.

22. A molded article comprising the composition of claim 1 .