PLASTICIZED POLYAMIDE COMPOSITIONS
Plasticized compositions comprising polyamide or polyamide/ionomer blend and poly(trimethylene ether) glycol are provided. Also articles prepared from these compositions are provided.
1 . A flexible polymer composition comprising a polyamide base polymer and plasticizer, wherein the plasticizer comprises an effective amount of poly(trimethylene ether) glycol (PPD), wherein the polyamide base polymer is an aliphatic polyamide, a semi-aromatic polyamide, or a mixture thereof.
2 . The flexible polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the PPD is present in an amount of from about 1 to about 15% by weight based on the total weight of the base polymer.
3 . The flexible polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the polyamide base polymer comprises nylon 6, nylon 66, nylon 610, nylon 1010, nylon 612, nylon 11, nylon 12, or mixtures thereof.
4 . The flexible polymer composition of claim 1 , wherein the plasticizer is present in an amount of from about 1 to about 10 wt %.
5 . The flexible polymer composition of claim 1 , further comprising one or more additional natural or synthetic ester plasticizers.
6 . The flexible polymer composition of claim 1 wherein the polymer further comprises an ethylene acid copolymer or a salt thereof.
7 . The flexible polymer composition of claim 1 comprising Nylon 6 in an amount of at least about 50 wt %, wherein the composition has a flex modulus of less than about 1500 MPa, wherein the flex modulus is measured by ASTM D790-10 test method.
8 . The composition of claim 1 comprising Nylon 12 in an amount of at least about 50 wt % and wherein the composition has a flex modulus of less than than 1000 MPa.
9 . The composition of claim 1 wherein the PPD has a number average molecular weight (Mn) below 500.
10 . The composition of claim 5 wherein the additional plasticizer is the benzoate ester of PPD.
11 . An article comprising the polymer composition of claim 1 .
12 . The article of claim 11 , wherein the effective amount of plasticizer is from 1 to 15% by weight based on the total weight of the base polymer.
13 . The article of claim 11 , wherein the aliphatic polyamide base polymer comprises nylon 6, nylon 66, nylon 610, nylon 1010, nylon 612, nylon 11, nylon 12, or mixtures thereof.
14 . The article of claim 11 wherein the composition further comprises an ethylene acid copolymer or salt thereof.