Active energy ray curable aqueous emulsions

1. An aqueous radiation curable composition comprising:

(I) at least one ethylenically unsaturated compound (A), and (II) at least one emulsifier (B) consisting essentially of alternating polyalkylene oxide segments,

wherein said compound (A) is a water-insoluble compound,

wherein said emulsifier (B) optionally bears one or more groups selected from at least one of alkyl groups, aryl groups, hydroxyl groups and copolymerizable ethylenically unsaturated groups,

wherein said emulsifier (B) has an HLB value of at least 5 and at most 19, and

wherein said emulsifier (B) is represented by the general formula (I):

R—O—(R 1 —O) x —(R 2 —O) y —(R 3 —O) z —R′

wherein

each of R1, R2 or R3 independently is a linear or branched C2-C12 alkyl;

R1≠R2 and R3≠R2;

X=6-100;

Y=6-100;

Z=0-100; and

R and R′ each independently is selected from the following: linear or branched C1-C18 alkyl, linear or branched C6-C24 aryl, (meth)acryloyl or —H.

2. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said emulsifier (B) consists essentially of alternating polyethylene oxide segments and polypropylene oxide segments, wherein said emulsifier (B) optionally bears one or more groups selected from at least one of alkyl groups, aryl groups, allyl groups, (meth)acryloyl groups and, hydroxyl groups, and wherein said emulsifier (B) has an HLB value of at least 6 and at most 19.

3. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said compound (A) is characterized by an amount of ethylenically unsaturated groups of at least 4 meq/g, and optionally by a functionality of at least 3 ethylenically unsaturated groups per molecule.

4. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said compound (A) is at least one of urethane (meth)acrylate(s) and polyester (meth)acrylate(s).

5. The composition of claim 4 , wherein the urethane (meth)acrylate(s) have a molecular weight of between 400 and 20,000 Daltons and the polyester (meth)acrylate(s) have a molecular weight of between 200 and 20,000 Daltons.

6. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said emulsifier (B) is at least one of di-bloc polyalkylene oxide and tri-bloc polyalkylene oxide copolymers.

7. The composition of claim 6 , wherein said emulsifier (B) is di-bloc copolymers comprised of alternating sequences of (i) polyethylene oxide with a degree of polymerization comprised between 6 and 100 units, and of (ii) polypropylene oxide with a degree of polymerization comprised between 6 and 100 units, and wherein said emulsifier (B) optionally bears one or more groups selected from at least one of terminal alkyl, hydroxyl and (meth)acryloyl functional groups.

8. The composition of claim 6 , wherein said emulsifier (B) is tri-bloc copolymers comprised of alternating sequences of (i) polyethylene oxide with a degree of polymerization comprised between 6 and 100 units, of (ii) polypropylene oxide with a degree of polymerization comprised between 6 and 100 units, and of (iii) polyethylene oxide with a degree of polymerization comprised between 6 and 100 units, and wherein said emulsifier (B) optionally bears one or more groups selected from at least one of terminal alkyl, hydroxyl and (meth)acryloyl functional groups.

9. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said emulsifier (B) bears at least one terminal (meth)acryloyl group and optionally at least one terminal alkyl group.

10. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said emulsifier (B) has an HLB value from 10 to 17.

11. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said HLB value is the weighted average of HLB values of a blend of emulsifiers.

12. The composition of claim 1 , comprising, relative to the total weight of said compound (A) and said emulsifier (B), from 50 to 99.9 wt % of said compound (A) and from 0.1 to 50 wt % of said emulsifier (B).

13. The composition of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of at least one co-solvent having a boiling point between 100° C. and 300° C. at 760 mm Hg and at least one neutralizing agent selected from at least one of organic bases and inorganic bases.

14. An aqueous radiation curable composition comprising:

(I) at least one ethylenically unsaturated compound (A), and (II) at least one emulsifier (B) consisting essentially of alternating polyalkylene oxide segments,

wherein said compound (A) is a water-insoluble compound,

wherein said emulsifier (B) optionally bears one or more groups selected from at least one of alkyl groups, aryl groups, hydroxyl groups and copolymerizable ethylenically unsaturated groups,

wherein said emulsifier (B) has an HLB value of at least 5 and at most 19, and

wherein said emulsifier (B) is represented by the general formula (I):

R—O—(R 1 —O) x —(R 2 —O) y —(R 3 —O) z —R′

wherein

each of R1, R2 or R3 independently is a linear or branched C2-C12 alkyl;

R1≠R2 and R3≠R2;

X=6-100;

Y=6-100;

Z=0-100; and

R and R′ each independently is selected from the following: linear or branched C1-C18 alkyl, linear or branched C6-C24 aryl, (meth)acryloyl or —H, and

wherein the composition has a solids content of from 5 to 75 wt %.

15. An aqueous radiation curable composition comprising:

(I) at least one ethylenically unsaturated compound (A), and (II) at least one emulsifier (B) that comprises alternating polyalkylene oxide segments,

wherein said compound (A) is a water-insoluble compound,

wherein said emulsifier (B) bears no ethylenically unsaturated groups,

wherein said emulsifier (B) has an HLB value of at least 5 and at most 19, and

wherein said emulsifier (B) is represented by the general formula (I):

R—O—(R 1 —O) x —(R 2 —O) y —(R 3 —O) z —R′

wherein

each of R1, R2 or R3 independently is a linear or branched C2-C12 alkyl;

R1≠R2 and R3≠R2;

X=6-100;

Y=6-100;

Z=0-100; and

R and R′ each independently is selected from the following: linear or branched C1-C18 alkyl, linear or branched C6-C24 aryl or —H.

16. The composition of claim 15 , wherein said emulsifier (B) bears one or more groups selected from at least one of alkyl groups, aryl groups and hydroxyl groups.

17. A coating composition, ink, overprint varnish or adhesive comprising at least one composition according to claim 1 .

18. A process of coating an article or a substrate, comprising the steps of applying a composition according to claim 17 to at least one surface of the article or the substrate, followed by a step of curing the composition, which curing step optionally is preceded by a step of evaporating water.

19. The composition of claim 1 , wherein, in said formula (I), R and R′ each independently is selected from the following: linear or branched C1-C18 alkyl, (meth)acryloyl or —H.

20. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said compound (A) is selected from the group consisting of one or more of urethane (meth)acrylates, polyester (meth)acrylates, polyepoxy (meth)acrylates, polycarbonate (meth)acrylates, polyether (meth)acrylates, and polyacrylic (meth)acrylates.

21. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said emulsifier (B) bears no ethylenically unsaturated groups.

22. The composition of claim 1 , wherein said compound (A) does not comprise any pendant hydrophilic groups nor any alkylene oxide segments in an amount that would render the compound self-dispersible, self-emulsifiable or water-soluble.

23. The composition of claim 1 , which is an emulsion.