JPH08302050A - Production of polypropylene resin foam - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To produce a polypropylene resin foam having a high content of fine and uniform closed cells and high rigidity with excellent moldability and high productivity by blending a specific ethylene-propylene block copolymer with a blowing agent and foaming the blend by extrusion. CONSTITUTION: This polypropylene resin foam is obtained by blending (A) an ethylene-propylene block copolymer having 1-10g/10 minutes melt flow rate, 1-10wt.% of ethylene content, >=6dl/g intrinsic viscosity [η] of p-xylene soluble content at 23 deg.C and the ratio of the weight-average molecular weight Mw/the number-average molecular weight Mn of >=10 with (B) a blowing agent (preferably a thermal decomposition type blowing agent such as azobisisobutyronitrile, etc.) in the ratio of preferably 0.1-30 pts.wt. of the component B based on 100 pts.wt. of the component A and foaming the blend by extrusion. The component A is preferably obtained by combining a process for polymerizing propylene in the presence of a stereospecific polymerization catalyst to give a crystalline propylene-based polymer with a process for copolymerizing propylene with ethylene to give a noncrystalline propylene-ethylene copolymer.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for producing an extruded polypropylene resin foam.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In extrusion foaming of a polyolefin resin, it is important to foam the resin in a molten state having proper viscoelasticity for foaming. If the melt viscosity of the resin is too high, it is difficult to foam, and conversely low. If it passes, the foam cells will be broken and the gas cannot be retained in the resin.

Polypropylene resin having high crystallinity is
The viscoelasticity of the resin changes greatly with a slight temperature change, and the appropriate foaming temperature range is very narrow. It is very difficult to carry out extrusion foaming within such a narrow temperature range, and a foam obtained at a temperature outside the temperature range has an open cell structure or an entirely inhomogeneous structure. Or

Therefore, as a raw material resin conventionally used for the production of extruded polypropylene-based resin foams, there is known a material in which a polypropylene-based resin is mixed with a polyethylene-based resin having a higher melt tension than that of the polypropylene-based resin (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10 (1999) -242242). No. 4-359034), the foaming stability is ensured, but the resulting foam is inferior in rigidity and heat resistance to that obtained by using a polypropylene resin alone, and therefore the use of the foam is limited. It was

It has also been proposed to use two kinds of ethylene-propylene block copolymers as raw materials (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-288731). In this case, the resulting foam has rigidity and heat resistance. Although there is no problem with the property, there was a problem that the internal structure was not uniform and the impact strength was poor.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for producing a polypropylene resin extruded foam having a fine and uniform internal structure while maintaining the original rigidity and heat resistance of the polypropylene resin. And

[0007]

As a result of intensive studies, the inventors of the present invention have found that the object of the present invention can be achieved by extrusion foaming using a specific ethylene-propylene copolymer as a raw material. Found and completed the present invention.

That is, according to the present invention, the melt flow rate is 1 to 10 g / 10 minutes, the ethylene content is 1 to 10% by weight, and the intrinsic viscosity [η] of the paraxylene soluble matter at 23 ° C. is 6%.
ethylene having a dl / g or more and a ratio Mw / Mn of the weight average molecular weight (Mw) to the number average molecular weight (Mn) of 10 or more;
A gist is a method for producing a polypropylene resin foam, which comprises mixing a propylene block copolymer and a foaming agent and subjecting the mixture to extrusion foaming.

The ethylene-propylene block copolymer (hereinafter sometimes referred to as EPBC) used in the present invention has a melt flow rate (MFR; JIS K7).
210; load 2.16 kg, measured at 230 ° C) is 1 to 1
0 g / 10 minutes, preferably 2 to 7 g / 10 minutes, ethylene content 1 to 10% by weight, preferably 2 to 7 g% by weight, and the intrinsic viscosity [η] of the para-xylene-soluble component at 23 ° C. (Measured in tetralin at 135 ° C) is 6 dl / g
The above is preferably 6 to 8 dl / g, and the ratio (Mw / M) of the weight average molecular weight (Mw) to the number average molecular weight (Mn).
n) is 10 or more, preferably 12 to 15.

If the melt flow rate of EPBC MFR is less than 1 g / 10 min, the extrudability becomes difficult and the melt flow rate becomes 10 g / min.
If it exceeds 10 minutes, the foam moldability deteriorates.

When the ethylene content of EPBC is less than 1% by weight, the impact strength of the foam is insufficient, and when it exceeds 10% by weight, the rigidity of the foam is insufficient.

If the [η] of the para-xylene-soluble component (CXS) at 23 ° C. of EPBC is less than 6 dl / g, the diameter of the closed cells in the foam becomes large and the impact strength decreases.

When the Mw / Mn of EPBC is less than 10, the fluidity of the resin is deteriorated, which reduces the amount of resin discharged during extrusion molding, and a sufficient amount of production cannot be obtained.

Such EPBC can be produced by block-copolymerizing propylene and ethylene in the presence of a Ziegler-Natta type catalyst. More specifically, in the presence of a stereospecific polymerization catalyst, a step of polymerizing propylene to obtain a crystalline propylene-based polymer, and a step of copolymerizing propylene and ethylene to obtain an amorphous propylene-ethylene copolymer corresponding to the CXS portion are described. It is obtained by combining in the process of obtaining a polymer.

The order of these steps is not particularly limited, but the post-step is continuously carried out in the presence of the polymer obtained in the pre-step and the polymerization catalyst used. In particular, the step of obtaining an amorphous propylene-ethylene copolymer is [η]
In order to produce a high molecular weight copolymer having a molecular weight of 6 dl / g or more, it is important to carry out under the condition that hydrogen, which is a molecular weight regulator, does not substantially exist. The CXS in the EPBC
The proportion of the portion is usually 5 to 50% by weight, preferably 10 to
It is 30% by weight.

In the present invention, the above EPBC and a foaming agent are mixed and extruded and foamed. In EPBC, before the extrusion and foaming, an inorganic filler, an antioxidant, an ultraviolet absorber, a light absorber are added, if necessary. Additives such as stabilizers and colorants can be added.

Examples of the blowing agent include lower aliphatic hydrocarbons such as propane, butane and pentane, lower alicyclic hydrocarbons such as cyclobutane and cyclopentane, and monochlorodifluoromethane, dichlorodifluoromethane, trichlorodifluoroethane, trichlorotrifluoroethane, Volatile foaming agents consisting of halogenated hydrocarbons such as dichlorotetrafluoroethane, methyl chloride, ethyl chloride, methylene chloride, gaseous foaming agents such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, oxygen, air, sodium bicarbonate, ammonium bicarbonate,
A thermally decomposable foaming agent made of dinitrosopentamethylenetetramine, toluenesulfonyl human azide, azodicarbonamide, p, p'-oxybisbenzenesulfonyl hydrazide, azobisisobutyronitrile or the like is used. Among these, the thermal decomposition type foaming agent is particularly desirable.

The amount of these foaming agents used is EPBC10.
It is 0.1 to 30 parts by weight per 0 parts by weight.

Mixing of the EPBC and the foaming agent is preferably carried out by kneading the EPBC inside an extruder or the like while melting the EPBC. In the case of a pyrolytic foaming agent, the EPBC is mixed with the EPBC. Before being supplied to the extruder or the like, it may be mixed with EPBC in advance or separately from the EPBC, and may be supplied to the extruder or the like. In the case of a volatile type foaming agent or a gaseous foaming agent, for example, a vent type It may be pressed into the melted EPBC from the middle part of the screw of an extruder or the like.

The EPBC and foaming agent kneaded by an extruder or the like are extruded and foamed through a die attached to the tip of the extruder. The expansion ratio is 1.5 to 6 times, preferably 2 to
5 times. The shape of the obtained foam is arbitrary, and examples thereof include a film shape, a sheet shape, a pipe shape, and a cylindrical shape.

[0021]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to examples. Percentages in the examples are by weight.

The physical properties of the raw material resin and the obtained foam were measured by the following methods.

Closed cell ratio The ratio of the closed cells to all the cells was calculated by analyzing the photograph of the cross section of the foamed sheet cut in the width direction.

Average Closed Cell Diameter A photograph obtained in the same manner as in the calculation of the closed cell ratio was subjected to image analysis to measure the diameter of the independent bubbles, and the average diameter was calculated.

The bubble diameter to the closed cell diameter ratio all closed cells was calculated the ratio of closed cells in the range of the average closed cell diameter ± 5 [mu] m.

Drawdown speed From a 0.5 mm-thick sheet molded from raw material resin, 3
Cut a strip of 0 mm x 300 mm, fix it to a jig, heat it in an air oven at 175 ° C, and measure the rate of sagging after the sheet has melted.

DuPont impact strength Measured at 23 ° C. according to JIS K7211.

Example 1 Ethylene content 10%, melt flow rate (MFR) 2.0 g / 10 min, paraxylene solubles at 23 ° C. 20% and its intrinsic viscosity [η] 8.
100 parts by weight of ethylene-propylene block copolymer (EPBC) having 0 dl / g and a ratio (Mw / Mn) of weight average molecular weight (Mw) to number average molecular weight (Mn) of 13 and 1 part by weight of azodicarbonamide were dried in advance. After blending, the mixture was supplied to an extruder (50 mmφ, L / D28), and the T die (resin passage, width 500 mm,) attached to this extruder was used.
The resin was discharged from a height of 1.5 mm) at 180 ° C. to form a foam sheet having a foaming ratio of 2.0 and a thickness of 3 mm.

The EPBC resin used had a drawdown speed of 1.0 mm / sec and a resin discharge rate of 35 kg / sec.
It was time. The physical properties and the like of the obtained foamed sheet are as shown in Table 1.

(Examples 2 to 4) Foamed sheets were obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the EPBCs having the properties shown in Table 1 were used. Table 1 shows the drawdown speed, the discharge amount of the resin, the physical properties of the foamed sheet, and the like in each example.

(Comparative Examples 1 to 6) Foamed sheets were obtained in the same manner as in Example 1 except that EPBCs having the properties shown in Table 1 were used. The EPBC used in Comparative Example 6
Is a mixture of EPBC (50 parts by weight) used in Comparative Example 2 and EPBC (50 parts by weight) used in Comparative Example 3.

The drawdown speed of the resin of each comparative example, the discharge amount of the resin, the physical properties of the foamed sheet and the like are shown in Table 1.

[Table 1] As is apparent from Table 1, the specific EPBC according to the present invention
When a foam is produced by using as a raw material resin, a foam having a high impact resistance, a high closed cell ratio, a fine (small average closed cell diameter) and a homogeneous (high closed cell diameter fraction) is obtained. It can be seen that it can be manufactured with good moldability (drawdown speed of 1.5 mm / sec or less) and high productivity (large discharge amount).

[0033]

The content of fine and homogeneous closed cells is high,
In addition, a highly rigid polypropylene resin extruded foam can be manufactured with good moldability and high productivity.

Such a foam can be suitably used as many members for automobiles, home appliances, building materials, food containers, stationery, miscellaneous goods, and the like.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A melt flow rate of 1 to 10 g / 10.
Min, ethylene content is 1 to 10% by weight, the intrinsic viscosity [η] of the para-xylene soluble component at 23 ° C. is 6 dl / g or more, and the ratio Mw of the weight average molecular weight (Mw) and the number average molecular weight (Mn).
A method for producing a polypropylene resin foam, which comprises mixing an ethylene-propylene block copolymer having a Mn of 10 or more and a foaming agent and subjecting the mixture to extrusion foaming. 2. The melt flow rate is 2 to 7 g / 10.
, Ethylene content of 2 to 7% by weight, intrinsic viscosity [η] of the para-xylene soluble matter at 23 ° C. of 6 to 8 dl / g, ratio Mw of weight average molecular weight (Mw) and number average molecular weight (Mn). /
A method for producing a polypropylene resin foam, which comprises mixing an ethylene-propylene block copolymer having an Mn of 12 to 15 and a foaming agent and subjecting the mixture to extrusion foaming.