Poly(arylene ether) and an apparatus for producing the same
View Patent ↗A poly(arylene ether) produced by combining a poly(arylene ether) solution with an antisolvent at a shear rate of greater than 50,000 sec −1 . The high shear mixing conditions produce a poly(arylene ether) dispersion in which the poly(arylene ether) solid contains reduced amounts of undesirably fine particles.
1. A poly(arylene ether) prepared by a method comprising:
combining a poly(arylene ether) solution with an antisolvent to form a poly(arylene ether) dispersion comprising a poly(arylene ether) solid;
wherein the poly(arylene ether) solution comprises a poly(arylene ether) and a solvent; and
wherein said combining comprises mixing with a shear rate of greater than 50,000 sec −1 to about 500,000 sec −1 .
2. The poly(arylene ether) of claim 1 , comprising less that 10 weight percent of particles smaller than 38 micrometers.
3. The poly(arylene ether) of claim 1 , having a percent compressibility of 0 to about 20 percent.
4. The poly(arylene ether) of claim 1 , wherein the poly(arylene ether) comprises a plurality of structural units of the formula
wherein for each structural unit, each Q 1 is independently selected from halogen, C 1 -C 7 primary or secondary alkyl, phenyl, C 1 -C 7 haloalkyl, C 1 -C 7 aminoalkyl, C 1 -C 7 hydrocarbonoxy, and C 2 -C 7 halohydrocarbonoxy wherein at least two carbon atoms separate the halogen and oxygen atoms; and each Q 2 is independently selected from hydrogen, halogen, C 1 -C 7 primary or secondary alkyl, phenyl, C 1 -C 7 haloalkyl, C 1 -C 7 hydrocarbonoxy, and C 2 -C 7 halohydrocarbonoxy wherein at least two carbon atoms separate the halogen and oxygen atoms.
5. The poly(arylene ether) of claim 4 , wherein each Q 1 is methyl and each Q 2 is hydrogen or methyl.
6. The poly(arylene ether) of claim 4 , wherein each Q 1 is methyl and each Q 2 is hydrogen.
7. The poly(arylene ether) of claim 4 , wherein the poly(arylene ether) is the polymerization product of the at least one monohydric phenol and a dihydric phenol having the structure
HO-D-OH
wherein D is a divalent aromatic radical.
8. The poly(arylene ether) of claim 1 , wherein the poly(arylene ether) comprises a functional group derived from a functionalizing agent comprising (a) at least one carbon-carbon double bond or carbon-carbon triple bond and (b) at least one functional group selected from carboxylic acid, acid anhydride, acid amide, imide, ester, amino, hydroxy, and the like.
9. An apparatus for preparing a poly(arylene ether), comprising:
means for preparing a poly(arylene ether) solution comprising a poly(arylene ether) and a solvent;
means for combining the poly(arylene ether) solution and an antisolvent at a shear rate of greater than 50,000 sec −1 to form a poly(arylene ether) dispersion comprising a poly(arylene ether) solid; and
means for separating the poly(arylene ether) solid from the poly(arylene ether) dispersion to form an isolated poly(arylene ether) solid.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising means for concentrating the poly(arylene ether) solution prior to said combining the poly(arylene ether) solution and an antisolvent.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the means for concentrating the poly(arylene ether) solution comprises a heat exchanger, a flash vessel, and recirculation loop.