ANIONIC POLYUREA COVER COMPOSITIONS FOR A MULTI-LAYER GOLF BALL
Golf balls formed with at least one layer incorporating an anionic polyurea material formed from an isocyanate, an amine-terminated component, and an amine-terminated curing agent where at least one of the amine-terminated component and amine-terminated curing agent includes a R′—R″ segment with acid functionalization.
1 . A golf ball comprising a core, an intermediate layer, and a cover, wherein the intermediate layer comprises a polymer comprising:
a polyurea prepolymer comprising an isocyanate-containing component and an isocyanate-reactive component, wherein the isocyanate reactive component has at least one of the following general formulas:
wherein x and y are the number of repeat units, R 2 comprises an alkyl, aryl, or aralkyl group, and R′ and R″ may independently comprise a hydrocarbon, a polyether, a polyester, a polycaprolactone, a polycarbonate, a polyamide, or a mixture thereof, and wherein at least one of R′ and R″ further comprise at least one acid group; and
a curative comprising:
an amine-terminated curing agent; and
a neutralizing agent;
wherein greater than about 70 percent of the acid groups in the polymer are neutralized.
2 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the curative further comprises a flow modifier.
3 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein greater than about 80 percent of the acid groups in the polymer are neutralized.
4 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein at least one of R′ and R″ comprise at least one of a carboxylate group, a sulfonate group, a phosphonate group, or a mixture thereof.
5 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the isocyanate-reactive component comprises between about 5 percent to about 30 percent acid groups by weight of the isocyanate-reactive component.
6 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the isocyanate-reactive component comprises greater than about 16 weight percent acid groups based on the total weight of the isocyanate-reactive component.
7 . The golf ball of claim 2 , wherein 100 percent of the acid groups in the polymer are neutralized.
8 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the cover comprises a thermoplastic material.
9 . The golf ball of claim 1 , wherein the cover comprises a castable reactive liquid material.
10 . A golf ball comprising:
a core;
an inner cover layer comprising a polymer comprising:
a polyurea prepolymer comprising the reaction product of an isocyanate-containing component and an isocyanate-reactive component, wherein the isocyanate-reactive component comprises at least two terminal amino groups and about 5 percent to about 30 percent acid groups by weight of the isocyanate-reactive component, and wherein about 20 percent to about 70 percent of the acid groups are neutralized; and
an amine-terminated curing agent; and
an outer cover layer.
11 . The golf ball of claim 10 , wherein the isocyanate-reactive component comprises greater than about 16 weight percent acid groups.
12 . The golf ball of claim 10 , wherein the isocyanate-reactive component comprises an acid-functionalized amine-terminated hydrocarbon, an acid-functionalized amine-terminated polyester, an acid-functionalized amine-terminated polyether, an acid-functionalized amine-terminated polycarbonate, an acid-functionalized amine-terminated polycaprolactone, an acid-functionalized amine-terminated polyamide, or a combination thereof.
13 . The golf ball of claim 10 , wherein the outer cover layer comprises a thermoplastic material.
14 . A golf ball comprising a core, an inner cover layer disposed about the core, and an outer cover layer disposed about the inner cover layer, wherein the inner cover layer comprises a polymer comprising the reaction product of
a polyurea prepolymer formed from the reaction product of a diisocyanate and an amine-terminated component; and
a curative comprising:
an amine-terminated curing agent having at least one of the following general formulas:
wherein x and y are the number of repeat units, R 2 comprises an alkyl, aryl, or aralkyl group, and R′ and R″ may independently comprise a hydrocarbon, a polyether, a polyester, a polycaprolactone, a polycarbonate, a polyamide, or a mixture thereof, and wherein at least one of R′ and R″ further comprise at least one acid group; and
a neutralizing agent;
wherein greater than about 70 percent of the acid groups in the polymer are neutralized.
15 . The golf ball of claim 14 , wherein at least one of R′ and R″ comprises at least one of a carboxylate group, a sulfonate group, a phosphonate group, or a mixture thereof.
16 . The golf ball of claim 14 wherein both R′ and R″ comprise at least one acid group.
17 . The golf ball of claim 14 , wherein the curative further comprises a flow modifier.
18 . The golf ball of claim 14 , wherein greater than about 80 percent of the acid groups in the polymer are neutralized.
19 . The golf ball of claim 14 , wherein the outer cover layer comprises a thermoplastic material.
20 . The golf ball of claim 14 , wherein the outer cover layer comprises a castable reactive liquid material.