Highly pure halogenated rubbers

1. A process for the preparation of an aqueous slurry comprising a dispersion of halogenated elastomer particles, the process comprising:

A) contacting an organic medium comprising:

i) at least one of a halogenated elastomer, and

ii) an organic diluent

with an aqueous medium comprising at least one lower critical solution temperature (LCST) compound in the amount of 1 to 5,000 ppm measured with respect to the amount of the halogenated elastomer, the LCST compound having a cloud point of 0 to 100° C. to produce a mixture of dispersed halogenated elastomer particles and LCST compound;

wherein the mixture has a temperature of about 50° C. to about 100° C.; and

B) removing at least partially the organic diluent from the mixture to obtain an aqueous slurry comprising a dispersion of the halogenated elastomer particles and LCST compound.

2. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the aqueous medium additionally comprises 1 to 2,000 ppm of antioxidant based on the total weight of the aqueous medium.

3. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the organic medium is obtained by a process comprising:

i) halogenating an elastomer using a halogenating agent in an organic diluent to obtain an organic medium comprising the halogenated elastomer and the organic diluent, and

ii) optionally washing the organic medium comprising the halogenated elastomer with a basic aqueous phase and separating the resulting aqueous phase from the organic medium.

4. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the halogenated elastomer is obtained by halogenating an elastomer comprising repeating units derived from at least one isoolefin and repeating units derived from at least one multiolefin.

5. The process according to claim 4 , wherein the at least one isoolefin is selected from the group consisting of isoolefin monomers having 4 to 16 carbon atoms.

6. The process according to claim 4 , wherein the isoolefin is isobutene.

7. The process according to claim 5 , wherein the at least one multiolefin is selected from the group consisting of isoprene, butadiene, 2-methylbutadiene, 2,4-dimethylbutadiene, piperyline, 3-methyl-1,3-pentadiene, 2,4-hexadiene, 2-neopentylbutadiene, 2-methyl-1,5-hexadiene, 2,5-dimethyl-2,4-hexadiene, 2-methyl-1,4-pentadiene, 4-butyl-1,3-pentadiene, 2,3-dimethyl-1,3-pentadiene, 2,3-dibutyl-1,3-pentadiene, 2-ethyl-1,3-pentadiene, 2-ethyl-1,3-butadiene, 2-methyl-1,6-heptadiene, cyclopentadiene, methylcyclopentadiene, cyclohexadiene and 1-vinyl-cyclohexadiene.

8. The process according to claim 6 , wherein the multiolefin is isoprene.

9. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the amount of LCST compound(s) present in the aqueous medium employed in step A) is 10 ppm to 5,000 ppm with respect to the amount of halogenated elastomer.

10. The process according to claim 1 , comprising a further step C) wherein the halogenated elastomer particles contained in the aqueous slurry obtained according to step B) are separated to obtain isolated halogenated elastomer particles, and optionally a further step e) wherein the (isolated) halogenated elastomer particles are dried.

11. The process according to claim 10 , comprising as a further step D), shaping of the halogenated elastomer particles to obtain halogenated elastomer products.

12. Aqueous slurry obtainable according to a process according to claim 1 .

13. Halogenated elastomer product or halogenated elastomer particles produced by the process of claim 1 comprising

I) 96.0 wt. % or more of a halogenated elastomer

II) 0 to 3.0 wt. % of salts of mono- or multivalent metal ions, and

III) 1 ppm to 5,000 ppm of at least one LCST compound measured with respect to the amount of the halogenated elastomer.

14. Halogenated elastomer products or halogenated elastomer particles produced by the process of claim 1 comprising

I) 100 parts by weight of a halogenated elastomer,

II) 0.0001 to 0.5 parts by weight of a least one LCST compound measured with respect to the amount of the halogenated elastomer and

III) no or 0.0001 to 3.0 parts by weight of salts of mono- or multivalent metal ions and

IV) no or 0.005 to 3.0 parts by weight (phr) of antioxidants

V) 0.005 to 1.5 parts by weight of volatiles having a boiling point at standard pressure of 200° C. or less.

15. Halogenated elastomer products or halogenated elastomer particles according to claim 14 further comprising VI) 0.05 to 2.5 parts by weight of stabilizers.

16. Halogenated elastomer particles and halogenated elastomer products comprising:

97.5 wt.-% or more of a halogenated elastomer and having an ash content measured according to ASTM D5687 of 0.25 wt. % or less; and

at least one lower critical solution temperature (LCST) compound in the amount of 1 to 5,000 ppm measured with respect to the amount of the halogenated elastomer.

17. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the amount of LCST compound(s) present in the aqueous medium employed in step A) is 10 to 2,500 ppm with respect to the amount of halogenated elastomer.

18. The process according to claim 1 , wherein:

the aqueous slurry comprises a dispersion of at least 20 discreet particles of halogenated elastomer per liter; and

the particles of halogenated elastomer have a particle size of 0.05 to 25 mm.

19. The process according to claim 17 , wherein:

the aqueous slurry comprises a dispersion of at least 100 discreet particles of halogenated elastomer per liter; and

the particles of halogenated elastomer have a particle size of 0.3 to 10 mm.