Polymer compositions comprising poly(arylether ketone)s and graphene materials

1. A polymer composition comprising

A) a poly(arylether ketone); and

B) from 0.1 to 70 wt. %, based on the combined weight of components A) and B), of at least one non-tubular graphene material,

wherein said poly(arylether ketone) comprises one or more of the recurring units of formulae selected from the group consisting of following formulae (1) to (5)-

wherein

Ar is independently a divalent aromatic radical selected from the group consisting of

phenylene, biphenylene, and naphthylene;

X is independently —O—, —CO— or a direct bond;

n is an integer of from 0 to 3;

a is an integer of from 1 to 4;

b, c, d and e have independently the value 0 or 1; and d is 0 if b is 1.

2. The polymer composition in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the non-tubular graphene material is a sheet material.

3. The polymer composition in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the content of said component B) is at least 0.5 wt. % based on the combined weight of said components A) and B).

4. The polymer composition in accordance with claim 3 , wherein the content of said component B) is at least 1 wt. % based on the combined weight of said components A) and B).

5. The polymer composition in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the content of said component B) is at most 20 wt. % based on the combined weight of said components A) and B).

6. The polymer composition in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising a semicrystalline polymer other than a poly(arylether ketone) in a weight ratio of said poly(arylether ketone) to said semicrystalline polymer of greater or equal to 1.

7. The polymer composition in accordance with claim 1 , further comprising an amorphous polymer in a weight ratio of said poly(arylether ketone) to said amorphous polymer of greater or equal to 0.5.

8. The polymer composition in accordance with claim 1 , wherein the poly(arylether ketone) comprises one or more of the recurring units of formulae selected from the group consisting of following formulae (6) to (25):

9. The polymer composition in accordance with claim 8 , wherein the poly(arylether ketone) comprises one or more of the recurring units of formulae selected from the group consisting of said formulae (6) to (8).

10. The polymer composition in accordance with claim 1 , wherein nano-graphene platelets are used as said non-tubular graphene material in said composition.

11. A molded or extruded article made from the polymer composition in accordance with claim 1 .

12. The article in accordance with claim 11 , being an extruded article selected from the group consisting of rods, tubes, sheets, and films.

13. A method for the manufacture of an article, comprising molding the polymer composition according to claim 1 .

14. A method for the manufacture of an article, comprising extruding the polymer composition according to claim 1 .

15. The polymer composition in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said graphene material has a specific surface area, as measured by BET method, which is less than 40 m 2 /g.

16. The polymer composition in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said graphene material has a specific surface area, as measured by BET method, which is less than 30 m 2 /g.

17. The polymer composition in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said graphene material has a specific surface area, as measured by BET method, which is up to 20 m 2 /g.

18. The polymer composition in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said graphene material has a specific surface area, as measured by BET method, which exceeds 6 m 2 /g and is less than 40 m 2 /g.

19. The polymer composition in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said graphene material has a specific surface area, as measured by BET method, which exceeds 12 m 2 /g and is below 30 m 2 /g.