Method of manufacture of polyester molding compositions and articles produced therefrom

1. A thermoplastic molding composition comprising:

50 to 90 wt. % of a polyester;

8 to 48 wt. % of a polyetherimide; and

2 to 25 wt. % of a high rubber graft impact modifier comprising at least 40 wt. % rubber, the amount of the polyester, polyetherimide, and impact modifier being based on their total combined weight of the thermoplastic molding composition.

2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the polyester has repeating units of the following general formula (I):

wherein R 1 is an alkyl or cycloaliphatic radical having from 2 to 12 carbon atoms, and R 2 is an aryl radical having from 6 to 20 carbons.

3. The composition of claim 2 , wherein R 1 is ethylene or butylene and R 2 is a divalent isophthalyl or terephthalyl radical.

4. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the polyester comprises polyethylene terephthalate.

5. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the polyetherimide comprises structural units of the formula (II):

wherein the divalent bonds of the —O-Z-O— group are in the 3,3′, 3,4′, 4,3′, or the 4,4′ positions, and wherein Z comprises a divalent radicals of formula (III):

or of formula (IV)

wherein Q comprises a a divalent moiety selected from the group consisting of —O—, —S—, —C(O)—, —SO2—, CyH2y—wherein y is an integer from 1 to 5, and halogenated derivatives thereof; and R in formula (II) comprises an aromatic hydrocarbon radical having 6 to 20 carbon atoms and halogenated derivatives thereof, a straight or branched chain alkylene radical having 2 to 20 carbon atoms, a cycloalkylene radical having 3 to 20 carbon atoms, or divalent radicals of the general formula (IV).

6. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the polyetherimide is prepared by reaction of 2,2-bis[4-(3,4-dicarboxyphenoxy)phenyl]propane dianhydride, 4,4′-bis(3,4-dicarboxyphenoxy)diphenyl ether dianhydride, 4,4′-bis(3,4-dicarboxyphenoxy)diphenyl sulfide dianhydride, 4,4′-bis(3,4-dicarboxyphenoxy)benzophenone dianhydride, 4,4′-bis(3,4-dicarboxyphenoxy)diphenyl sulfone dianhydride, 2,2-bis[4-(2,3-dicarboxyphenoxy)phenyl]propane dianhydride, 4,4′-bis(2,3-dicarboxyphenoxy)diphenyl ether dianhydride, 4,4′-bis(2,3-dicarboxyphenoxy)diphenyl sulfide dianhydride, 4,4′-bis(2,3-dicarboxyphenoxy)benzophenone dianhydride, 4,4′-bis(2,3-dicarboxyphenoxy)diphenyl sulfone dianhydride, 4-(2,3-dicarboxyphenoxy)-4′-(3,4-dicarboxyphenoxy)diphenyl-2,2-propane dianhydride, 4-(2,3-dicarboxyphenoxy)-4′-(3,4-dicarboxyphenoxy)diphenyl ether dianhydride, 4-(2,3-dicarboxyphenoxy)-4′-(3,4-dicarboxyphenoxy)diphenyl sulfide dianhydride, 4-(2,3-dicarboxyphenoxy)-4′-(3,4-dicarboxyphenoxy)benzophenone dianhydride, 4-(2,3-dicarboxyphenoxy)-4′-(3,4-dicarboxyphenoxy)diphenyl sulfone dianhydride, or mixtures comprising at least one of the foregoing, with ethylenediamine, propylenediamine, trimethylenediamine, diethylenetriamine, triethylenetetramine, hexamethylenediamine, heptamethylenediamine, octamethylenediamine, nonamethylenediamine, decamethylenediamine, 1,12-dodecanediamine, 1,18-octadecanediamine, 3-methylheptamethylenediamine, 4,4-dimethylheptamethylenediamine, 4-methylnonamethylenediamine, 5-methylnonamethylenediamine, 2,5-dimethylhexamethylenediamine, 2,5-dimethylheptamethylenediamine, 2,2-dimethylpropylenediamine, N-methyl-bis(3-aminopropyl)amine, 3-methoxyhexamethylenediamine, 1,2-bis(3-aminopropoxy)ethane, bis(3-aminopropyl)sulfide, 1,4-cyclohexanediamine, bis-(4-aminocyclohexyl)methane, m-phenylenediamine, p-phenylenediamine, 2,4-diaminotoluene, 2,6-diaminotoluene, m-xylylenediamine, pxylylenediamine, 2-methyl-4,6-diethyl-1,3-phenylenediamine, 5-methyl-4,6-diethyl-1,3-phenylene-diamine, benzidine, 3,3′-dimethylbenzidine, 3,3′-dimethoxybenzidine, 1,5-diaminonaphthalene, bis(4-aminophenyl)methane, bis(2-chloro-4-amino-3,5-diethylphenyl)methane, bis(4-aminophenyl)propane, 2,4-bis(b-amino-t-butyl)toluene, bis(p-b-amino-t-butylphenyl)ether, bis(p-methyl-o-aminophenyl)benzene, bis(p-b-methyl-o-aminopentyl)benzene, 1,3-diamino-4-isopropylbenzene, bis(4-aminophenyl)sulfide, bis(4-aminophenyl)sulfone, bis(4-aminophenyl)ether, 1,3-bis(3-aminopropyl)tetramethyldisiloxane, or mixtures comprising at least one of the foregoing.

7. The composition of claim 5 , wherein the polyetherimide resin comprises structural units according to formula (II) wherein each R is independently p-phenylene or m-phenylene or a combination of at least one of the foregoing and Z is a divalent radical of the formula (X).

8. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the impact modifier is a coreshell impact modifier.

9. The composition of claim 1 , wherein the impact modifier is an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene or a methacrylate butadiene styrene.

10. The composition of claim 9 , wherein the impact modifier comprises 2 to 10 wt. % of the composition.

11. The composition of claim 1 , further comprising up to 15 wt. % of an inorganic filler, based on the total weight of the composition.

12. The composition of claim 11 , wherein the inorganic filler is selected from the group consisting of alumina, amorphous silica, anhydrous aluminum silicates, mica, feldspar, clays, talc, glass flake, glass fibers, glass microspheres, wollastonite, metal oxides, zinc oxide, barium sulfate, and fiberglass as well as mixtures comprising at least one of the foregoing.