Poly(trimethylene terephthalate) molding resins and molded articles therefrom

1. A thermoplastic composition comprising

a) a molding resin comprising

(a-1) a poly(trimethylene terephthalate) homopolymer or copolymer;

(a-2) optionally, 0.1 to 20 weight % of one or more organic additives selected from the group consisting of lubricants, flow modifiers, plasticizers, heat stabilizers, antioxidants, dyes, pigments, and UV stabilizers;

(a-3) 0.1 to 4 weight % of one or more ionomer polymers or a combination of one or more ionomer polymers and acid copolymers; said ionomer polymers and acid copolymers having C 3 to C 8 carboxylic acid repeat units, and each ionomer and acid copolymer having:

a weight %, W;

a weight fraction of C 3 to C 8 carboxylic acid repeat units, Z, based on the weight of each ionomer or acid copolymer; and

a neutralization ratio, N, equal to any value from 0 to 1.0;

wherein said neutralization ratio N is the mol fraction of said carboxylic acid repeat units neutralized as an alkali metal salt, based on the total carboxylic acid repeat units in said ionomer and acid copolymers; and

said each ionomer and acid polymer wt % W is based on the weight of components (a-1), (a-2) and (a-3);

and said molding resin has an alkali carboxylate factor, ACF, of 4 to about 14;

wherein said ACF is defined by the formula:

ACF =Σ a-i [(W·Z·N) a-i (W·N) a-i ·100/Σ a-i (W) a-i ]

and,

b) 0 to 50 wt % of one or more fillers, based on the total weight of the thermoplastic composition;

wherein the poly(trimethylene terephthalate) homopolymer or copolymer comprises poly(trimethylene terephthalate) repeat units and end groups and has a cyclic dimer content of less than or equal to 1.1 wt %, as determined with nuclear magnetic resonance analysis, based on the weight of said poly(trimethylene terephthalate) repeat units and said cyclic dimer and an intrinsic viscosity of 0.9 to about 2.0 dL/g.

2. The thermoplastic composition of claim 1 wherein an article comprising said composition exhibits greater than about 70% tensile strength retention after a Pressure Cooker Test for 30 h at 121° C. and 2 atm, relative to an untreated molded article, as measured with ISO method 527-1/2(1993).

3. The thermoplastic composition of claim 1 , wherein said composition exhibits a recrystallization exotherm of less than 5 J/g as measured with Differential Scanning calorimetry at 10° C./min scan rate from a melt quenched sample.

4. A thermoplastic composition, comprising

a) a molding resin comprising

(a-1) a poly(trimethylene terephthalate) homopolymer or copolymer;

(a-2) optionally, 0.1 to 20 weight % of one or more organic additives selected from the group consisting of lubricants, flow modifiers, plasticizers, heat stabilizers, antioxidants, dyes, pigments, and UV stabilizers;

(a-3) 0.1 to 4 weight % of one or more ionomer polymers or a combination of one or more ionomer polymers and acid copolymers; said ionomer polymers and acid copolymers having C 3 to C 8 carboxylic acid repeat units, and each ionomer and acid copolymer having:

a weight %, W;

a weight fraction of C 3 to C 8 carboxylic acid repeat units, Z, based on the weight of each ionomer or acid copolymer; and

a neutralization ratio, N, equal to any value from 0 to 1.0;

wherein said neutralization ratio N is the mol fraction of said carboxylic acid repeat units neutralized as an alkali metal salt, based on the total carboxylic acid repeat units in said ionomer and acid copolymers; and

said each ionomer and acid polymer wt % W is based on the weight of components (a-1), (a-2) and (a-3);

and said molding resin has an alkali carboxylate factor, ACF, of 4 to about 14;

wherein said ACF is defined by the formula:

ACF =Σ a-i [(W·Z·N) a-i (W·N) a-i ·100/Σ a-i (W) a-i ]

and,

b) 0 to 50 wt % of one or more fillers, based on the total weight of the thermoplastic composition,

wherein the one or more ionomer polymers comprise an ethylene/methacrylic acid copolymer having about 5 to 25 wt % methacrylic acid repeat units based on the weight of ethylene/methacrylic acid copolymer.

5. The thermoplastic composition of claim 1 , wherein said one or more fillers is present in the range of about 0.1 to 50 weight percent, based on the total weight of the thermoplastic composition, and is selected from the group consisting of minerals; glass; carbon as black or fiber; titanium dioxide; aramid in the form of short fibers, fibrils or fibrids; flame retardants, and a combination of two or more thereof.

6. A molded article comprising the thermoplastic composition of claim 1 .

7. The thermoplastic composition of claim 4 , wherein the neutralization ratio is 0.40 to about 0.70.

8. The thermoplastic composition of claim 5 , wherein the mineral is selected from the group consisting of clay, sepiolite, talc, wollastonite, mica, calcium carbonate, and mixtures of these.

9. The thermoplastic composition of claim 5 , wherein the glass is selected from the group consisting of fibers, milled glass, solid or hollow glass spheres, and mixtures of these.

10. The thermoplastic composition of claim 5 , wherein the flame retardant is selected from the group consisting of antimony oxide, sodium antimonite, and mixtures thereof.

11. The thermoplastic composition of claim 7 , wherein said one or more fillers is present in the range of about 0.1 to 50 weight percent, based on the total weight of the thermoplastic composition, and is selected from the group consisting of minerals; glass; carbon as black or fiber; titanium dioxide; aramid in the form of short fibers, fibrils or fibrids; flame retardants, and a combination of two or more thereof.

12. The thermoplastic composition of claim 11 , wherein the mineral is selected from the group consisting of clay, sepiolite, talc, wollastonite, mica, calcium carbonate, and mixtures of these.

13. The thermoplastic composition of claim 11 , wherein the glass is selected from the group consisting of fibers, milled glass, solid or hollow glass spheres, and mixtures of these.

14. The thermoplastic composition of claim 11 , wherein the flame retardant is selected from the group consisting of antimony oxide, sodium antimonite, and mixtures of these.