Olefinically unsaturated radial styrenic block copolymer and an improved vulcanizer-free latex comprising water and said radial styrenic block copolymer

1. An olefinically unsaturated radial styrenic block copolymer of the general formula:

A-B—Y—(B-A) n

wherein

each A is independently a polymer block composed of at least 90 mol. % of an alkenyl aromatic hydrocarbon;

the content of A by weight of the total weight of the polymer (PSC) is in the range of 9-12%;

Y is the remnant of a coupling agent having a functionality greater than 2;

the degree of branching (DoB) is n+1, wherein n is an integer from 2 to 4;

each B is independently an olefinically unsaturated polymer block composed of at least 90 mol. % of one or more conjugated dienes;

the styrenic block copolymer has a coupling efficiency (CE) in the range of 84 to 100%;

each A block independently has a weight average molecular weight (MW A) ranging from 10,000 to 12,000;

each B Block independently has a weight average molecular weight (MW B) ranging from 80,000 to 120,000, wherein the molecular weights are determined pursuant to ASTM 3536 using mono-dispersed polystyrene standards;

a film prepared from the olefinically unsaturated radial styrenic block copolymer has tensile strength of greater than or equal to 19 MPa, 10% Young's modulus smaller than 0.25 MPa and complex modulus at 120° C. of 5.6×10 5 Pas or higher.

2. The radial styrenic block copolymer of claim 1 , wherein each B is a polymer block composed of at least 90 mol. % of isoprene.

3. The radial styrenic block copolymer of claim 2 , wherein at least one B comprises at most 10 mol. % butadiene with at least 1 butadiene unit directly connected to the remnant of the coupling agent Y.

4. The radial styrenic block copolymer of claim 1 , wherein each A is a polymer block composed of at least 90 mol. % of styrene.

5. The radial styrenic block copolymer of claim 1 , wherein Y is the remnant of gamma-glycidoxy-propyltrimethoxysilane.

6. A vulcanizer-free artificial latex comprising water and one or more styrenic block copolymers as defined in claim 1 dispersed in said water in an amount of 20 to 80% by weight of the combination of water and styrenic block copolymer and said latex being free from vulcanizer.

7. The artificial latex of claim 6 , comprising said one or more styrenic block copolymers in an amount of 50 to 70% by weight of the combination of water and styrenic block copolymer.

8. The artificial latex of claim 6 , comprising

(a) a thio-functionalized phenolic antioxidant, or

(b) an antioxidant package comprising a primary phenolic antioxidant and a thioester as secondary antioxidant; or

(c) a combination of (a) and (b).

9. The artificial latex of claim 6 comprising a primary phenolic antioxidant selected from 2,6-di-t-butyl-4-methylphenol, 2,6,-di-t-butylphenol, 2,6-di-t-butyl-4-methylphenol, butyl hydroxyanisole, 2,6-di-t-butyl-α-dimethylamino-p-cresol, octadecyl-3-(3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionate, styrenated phenol, 2,2′-methylenebis(6-α-methylbenzyl-p-cresol), 4,4′-methylenebis (2,6-di-t-butylphenol), 2,2′-methylenebis(4-methyl-6-t-butylphenol), pentaerythritol tetrakis(3-(3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyphenyl)propionate), 3,3′,3′,5,5′,5′-hexa-tert-butyl-a,a′,a′-(mesitylene-2,4,6-triyl)6-tril)tri-p-cresol, alkylated bisphenol, the butylation reaction product of p-cresol and dicyclopentadiene, or a mixture of two or more thereof, and comprising a thioester selected from dilauryl thiodipropionate and distearyl thiodipropionate.

10. The artificial latex of claim 6 comprising a thio-functionalized phenolic antioxidant selected from thiobisphenolic antioxidants.

11. The artificial latex of claim 10 , wherein said thiobisphenolic antioxidants are selected from 2,2′-thiobis(4-methyl-6-t-butylphenol), 4,4′-thiobis(6-t-butyl-o-cresol), 4,6-bis(octylthiomethyl)-o-cresol, 4,6-bis(dodecylthiomethyl)-o-cresol, thiodiethylenebis[3-(3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxy-phenyl)propionate], or 2,6-di-t-butyl-4-(4,6-bis(octylthio)-1,3,5-triazin-2-ylamino)phenol.

12. The artificial latex of claim 6 comprising a thio-functionalized phenolic antioxidant, and/or a combination of a primary phenolic antioxidant and a thioester wherein the amount of the thio-functionalized phenolic antioxidant is within a range of from 0.1 to 3.0 parts by weight, per 100 parts by weight of the rubber constituting the rubber latex (phr), and/or wherein the amount of the primary antioxidant and the thioester are each independently within a range of from 0.1 to 3.0 parts by weight, per 100 parts by weight of the rubber constituting the rubber latex (phr).

13. A process for preparing articles by coagulation dipping from the artificial latex according to claim 6 , wherein a film is made from the latex and said film is allowed to dry and wherein said film is annealed for at least 10 minutes at an annealing temperature within the range of 100-130° C.

14. The process of claim 13 , wherein said film is annealed at about 120° C.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising subjecting the articles to irradiation.

16. Dipped goods comprising a film composed of the olefinically unsaturated radial styrenic block copolymer of claim 1 .

17. The radial styrenic block copolymer of claim 1 , wherein the coupling efficiency (CE) is in the range of 90 to 100%; and wherein the complex modulus is 6.4×10 5 Pas or higher.