METHOD FOR MAKING A COMPATIBILIZED BLEND FROM A BLEND OF POLYMERIC MATERIAL
A method for making polymeric pellets and films therefrom is disclosed. The polymeric pellets and films include a mixture of at least three distinct polymeric materials along with a compatibilizer and a rheology modifier.
1 . A method for forming polymeric pellets comprising the steps of:
i. heating a blended polymer mixture comprising a polyolefin, polyamide, an anhydride grafted polymer and polypropylene to the melting or glass transition temperature of the polymers included in the blended polymer mixture to form a polymer blend;
ii. mixing a compatibilizer and a rheology modifier with the polymer blend to form a polymeric mixture;
iii. cooling the polymeric mixture to form a solidified polymeric mixture; and
iv. pelletizing the solidified polymeric mixture to form polymeric pellets; the polymeric pellets comprising a polyolefin, polyamide, an anhydride grafted polymer, polypropylene a compatibilizer and a rheology modifier.
2 . The method of claim 1 wherein the blended polymer mixture further comprises ethylene vinyl alcohol and/or ethylene vinyl acetate.
3 . The method of claim 1 wherein the compatibilizer is present in the polymeric pellets in an amount of 1-10 wt %.
4 . The method of claim 1 wherein the rheology modifier is present in the polymeric pellets in an amount of 1-10 wt %.
5 . The method of claim 1 wherein the anhydride grafted polymer is an anhydride grafted polyethylene, anhydride grafted polypropylene or blend thereof and is present in the polymeric pellets in an amount of 5-20 wt %.
6 . The method of any of claim 5 wherein the anhydride grafted polymer is a malic anhydride grafted polyethylene, malic anhydride grafted polypropylene or blend thereof.
7 . (canceled)
8 . The method of claim 1 wherein the compatibilizer is a block polypropylene/polyethylene copolymer.
9 . (canceled)
10 . The method of claim 1 wherein the rheology modifier is a low molecular weight ethylene acrylic acid or a low molecular weight ethylene methacrylic acid copolymer.
11 . The method of claim 1 wherein the rheology modifier is an ionomer.
12 . (canceled)
13 . The method of claim 1 wherein the polymeric pellets comprise 5-40 wt % ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymer, 5-40 wt % polyamide and 5-40 wt % polypropylene.
14 . The method of claim 1 wherein the polymeric pellets comprise 5-25 wt % ethylene vinyl alcohol and less than 10 wt % ethylene vinyl acetate.
15 . The method of claim 1 wherein the polymeric pellets comprise 5-20 wt % anhydride grafted polymer.
16 . The method of claim 1 wherein the polymeric pellet comprises less than 50 wt % of polyolefins and 10-40 wt % polyamide.
17 . (canceled)
18 . The method of claim 1 wherein no single polymer comprises more than 50 wt % of the polymer blend.
19 . (canceled)
20 . (canceled)
21 . The method of claim 1 wherein the polymeric pellets comprise 20-40 wt % polyolefin, 20-35 wt % polyamide, 10-20 wt % anhydride grafted polymer, 5-15 wt % ethylene vinyl alcohol, 5-15 wt % polypropylene and less than 10 wt % ethylene vinyl acetate.
22 . The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of mixing less than 50 wt % virgin polymer with the polymer blend.
23 . (canceled)
24 . The method of claim 1 further comprising adding between 0.05 and 3 wt % of an antioxidant to the polymeric mixture.
25 . The method of claim 1 wherein the polymeric mixture has a density between 0.8 g/cm 3 and 1.2 g/cm 3 , 0.9 g/cm 3 and 1.1 g/cm 3 , or 0.9 g/cm 3 and 1.05 g/cm 3 as measured according to ASTM D-1505.
26 - 49 . (canceled)
50 . A polymeric pellet comprising:
a. a polyolefin;
b. a polyamide;
c. an anhydride grafted polymer;
d. a polypropylene;
e. a compatibilizer; and
f. a rheology modifier.
51 - 68 . (canceled)
69 . A multilayer film comprising at least one layer comprising:
a. a polyolefin;
b. a polyamide;
c. an anhydride grafted polymer;
d. a polypropylene;
e. a compatibilizer; and
f. a rheology modifier.
70 - 87 . (canceled)