Hydrocarbon resin and method for production thereof

1. A method for producing a hydrocarbon resin, comprising:

polymerizing a monomer mixture which contains an aromatic component containing indene and/or C 1-4 alkylindene and a cyclic diolefin component containing a cyclic diolefin compound by heating to a polymerization temperature of at least 180° C. to obtain a product stream containing the hydrocarbon resin,

separating oligomers which contain units originating from the cyclic diolefin compound and/or units originating from the aromatic component from the product stream and returning the oligomers to the monomer mixture, and

heating the hydrocarbon resin in an annealing step to a temperature of 150° C. to 300° C. for a period of 15 minutes to 240 hours.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the monomer mixture comprises a single-phase liquid while heating up to the polymerization temperature and during the polymerization, and/or the polymerization temperature is 200° C. to 300° C., and/or the polymerization is carried out at a pressure of 10 bar to 25 bar, and/or the polymerization is carried out continuously in a tubular reactor.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the cyclic diolefin component contains 30 wt. % or more, based on the total mass of the cyclic diolefin component, of the cyclic diolefin compound, and/or the cyclic diolefin compound contains a conjugated cyclodialkene and/or is selected from the group consisting of cyclopentadiene, cyclopentadiene derivatives and mixtures thereof, and/or the aromatic component is an aromatic mixture which contains indene and/or C 1-4 alkylindene and at least one ethylenically unsaturated aromatic compound having 8 to 15 carbon atoms.

4. The method according claim 3 , wherein the monomer mixture contains 50 to 95 wt. % of the cyclic diolefin compound, based on the total mass of the cyclic diolefin compound, indene and/or C 1-4 alkylindene and at least one ethylenically unsaturated aromatic compound.

5. The method according to claim 3 , wherein the monomer mixture contains 5 to 40 wt. % of indene and/or C 1-4 alkylindene and at least one ethylenically unsaturated aromatic compound, based on the total mass of the cyclic diolefin compound, indene and/or C 1-4 alkylindene and at least one ethylenically unsaturated aromatic compound.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the monomer mixture comprises a non-polymerizable solvent.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the oligomers boil at an absolute pressure of 100 mbar or less and at a temperature of 80° C. or more, and/or wherein the oligomers have a molecular weight of 100 to 600 g/mol.

8. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the oligomers and the non-polymerizable solvent are partially or completely removed from the product stream by batchwise or continuous evaporation after the polymerization, and/or the oligomers are partially or completely separated, batchwise or continuously, from the non-polymerizable solvent by complete or partial condensation after the evaporation, and/or the oligomers are fed back, batchwise or continuously, to the monomer mixture for further polymerization after the condensation.

9. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbon resin is heated in the annealing step for a period of 15 minutes to 600 minutes or for a period of 24 hours to 240 hours.

10. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbon resin is heated in the annealing step to a temperature of 200° C. to 300° C. or to a temperature of 150° C. to 210° C.

11. The method according to claim 6 , wherein the annealing step is carried out after the removal of oligomers and/or the annealing step is carried out after the removal of the non-polymerizable solvent and/or in that the annealing step is carried out in an annealing receptacle in which the mixture can be annealed.

12. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

partially or completely hydrogenating the hydrocarbon resin in a subsequent hydrogenation step to obtain a hydrogenated hydrocarbon resin.

13. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the oligomers are partially or completely removed from the product stream by batchwise or continuous evaporation after the polymerization, and/or the oligomers are fed back, batchwise or continuously, to the monomer mixture for further polymerization after condensation.

14. The hydrocarbon resin obtained by the method according to claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbon resin has a Gardner color number of 14 or less and a polydispersity index of less than 3.

15. A hydrogenated hydrocarbon resin obtained by hydrogenating a hydrocarbon resin obtained by the method according to claim 1 , wherein the hydrocarbon resin has a Gardner color number of 14 or less and wherein the hydrogenated hydrocarbon resin has a Yellowness Index of 3 or less.

16. The hydrocarbon resin according to claim 14 , wherein the hydrocarbon resin is used as a tackifier in hot-melt adhesives and/or in solvent-containing adhesives.

17. The hydrocarbon resin according to claim 14 , wherein the hydrocarbon resin is used as an additive, a modifier, and/or a water repellent in rubber products, bitumen, and/or printing inks.

18. The hydrogenated hydrocarbon resin according to claim 15 ,

wherein the hydrogenated hydrocarbon resin is used as an additive, a modifier, and/or water repellent in paint, plastics material, rubber, bitumen, polypropylene films, and/or cosmetics, or

wherein the hydrogenated hydrocarbon resin is used as a tackifier in adhesive compositions.