Heat aging resistant ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer composition and process for its production

1. A process for production of a polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition, the process comprising the steps

(a) providing one or more EVA copolymers consisting essentially of EVA copolymers comprising at least 40% by weight vinyl acetate monomer, and one or more polyam ides having a melting peak temperature of at least 160° C.;

(b) mixing the one or more EVA copolymers and the one or more polyamides at a temperature above the melting peak temperatures of the one or more polyamides to disperse the one or more polyamides within the one or more EVA copolymers, the one or more EVA copolymers and one or more polyamides being present in sufficient amounts to form a polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition comprising 5-60 wt % polyamide based on the total amount of EVA copolymers and polyamides in the blend;

(c) cooling the polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition to a temperature below the crystallization peak temperatures of the one or more polyamides, thereby forming a polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition having a Mooney viscosity (ML 1+4, 100° C.) of 5 to 200, as determined according to ASTM D1646 ; and

(d) adding a peroxide curative to the polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition after said copolymer composition has been cooled below the crystallization peak temperatures of the one or more polyamides, the addition taking place at a temperature of less than 160° C., to form the polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition.

2. The process of claim 1 , in which the polyamide has a melting peak temperature from about 180° C. to 260° C.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition exhibits an increase in torque of at least 2.5 dN-m, as determined in accordance with ASTM D5289-07 a using a curemeter operating at 0.5° arc and at test conditions of 177° C. for 24 minutes.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the EVA component comprises 60 to 90 weight percent and the polyamide component comprises 10 to 40 weight percent of the sum of the EVA copolymer and polyamide components.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the EVA component comprises 55 to 70 weight percent and the polyamide component comprises 30 to 45 weight percent of the sum of the EVA copolymer and polyamide components.

6. The process of claim 1 , wherein the polyamide is selected from the group consisting of nylon 6, nylon 7, nylon 6/6, nylon 6/10, nylon 6/12, nylon 11, nylon 12, polyamides comprising aromatic monomers, and polyamide block elastomers selected from the group consisting of copoly(amide-ethers) and copoly(amide-esters).

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein the polyamide has an inherent viscosity greater than 0.9 dL/g, as measured in accordance with ASTM D2857-95, using 96% by weight sulfuric acid as a solvent at a test temperature of 25° C.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein the polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition further comprises one or more additional components selected from the group consisting of plasticizers, process aids, waxes, pigments, and colorants.

9. The process of claim 1 , wherein the polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition further comprises an antioxidant.

10. The process of claim 1 , wherein the polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition further comprises one or more additional polymers selected from the group consisting of ethylene copolymers of propylene, 1-butene, 1-hexene, 1-octene, vinyl acetate, methylacrylate, ethylacrylate, or butylacrylate; said copolymers being grafted with maleic anhydride or glycidylmethacrylate; ethylene copolymers of maleic acid, fumaric acid, or a half ester or a diester of maleic acid or fumaric acid; and ethylene (meth)acrylate elastomers, provided that the Mooney viscosity (ML 1+4, 100° C.) of the polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition comprising the one or more additional polymers is below 200.

11. A process for preparing an EVA elastomer composition comprising the steps of

(a) providing a polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition that has been prepared by a process comprising the steps:

(i) providing i) one or more EVA copolymers comprising at least 40 % by weight copolymerized vinyl acetate monomer units, and ii) one or more polyam ides having a melting peak temperature of at least 160° C.;

(ii) mixing the one or more EVA copolymers and one or more polyamides at a temperature above the melting peak temperatures of the one or more polyamides to disperse the one or more polyamides within the one or more EVA copolymers, the one or more EVA copolymers and one or more polyam ides being present in sufficient amounts to form a polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition comprising 5-60 wt % of one or more polyam ides based on the total weight of EVA copolymers and polyam ides in the polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition; and

(iii) cooling the polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition to a temperature below the crystallization peak temperatures of the one or more polyamides, thereby forming a polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition that has a Mooney viscosity (ML 1+4, 100° C.) of 5 to 200, as determined according to ASTM D1646;

(b) adding a peroxide curative to the cooled polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition at a temperature less than 160° C. to form a curable polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition; and

(c) curing the curable polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition by exposing the curable polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition to a curing temperature of 160° C. to 220° C., provided that said curing temperature is less than the melting peak temperature of the polyamide, for about 2 to 60 minutes to form an EVA elastomer composition having a Shore A hardness greater than 40, as determined according to ASTM D 2240-06, reading after 1 second.

12. The process of claim 11 in which the polyamide has a melting peak temperature from about 180° C. to 260° C.

13. The process of claim 12 in which the EVA component comprises 60 to 90 weight percent and the polyamide component comprises 10 to 40 weight percent of the sum of the EVA copolymer and polyamide components.

14. The process of claim 11 , wherein the EVA component comprises 55 to 70 weight percent and the polyamide component comprises 30 to 45 weight percent of the sum of the EVA copolymer and polyamide components.

15. The process of claim 11 , wherein the polyamide is selected from the group consisting of nylon 6, nylon 7, nylon 6/6, nylon 6/10, nylon 6/12, nylon 11, nylon 12, polyam ides comprising aromatic monomers, and polyamide block elastomers selected from the group consisting of copoly(amide-ethers) and copoly(amide-esters).

16. The process of claim 11 , wherein the polyamide has an inherent viscosity greater than 0.9 dL/g, as measured in accordance with ASTM D2857-95, using 96% by weight sulfuric acid as a solvent at a test temperature of 25° C.

17. The process of claim 11 , wherein the EVA elastomer composition further comprises one or more additional components selected from the group consisting of plasticizers, process aids, waxes, pigments, and colorants.

18. The process of claim 11 , wherein the EVA elastomer composition further comprises an antioxidant.

19. The process of claim 11 , wherein the EVA elastomer composition further comprises one or more additional polymers selected from the group consisting of ethylene copolymers of propylene, 1-butene, 1-hexene, 1-octene, vinyl acetate, methylacrylate, ethylacrylate, or butylacrylate; said copolymers being grafted with maleic anhydride or glycidylmethacrylate; ethylene copolymers of maleic acid, fumaric acid, or a half ester or a diester of maleic acid or fumaric acid; and ethylene (meth)acrylate elastomers, provided that the Mooney viscosity (ML 1+4, 100° C.) of the polyamide-filled EVA copolymer composition comprising the one or more additional polymers is below 200.