Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08J—WORKING-UP; GENERAL PROCESSES OF COMPOUNDING; AFTER-TREATMENT NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C08B, C08C, C08F, C08G or C08H
  • C08J5/00—Manufacture of articles or shaped materials containing macromolecular substances
  • C08J5/18—Manufacture of films or sheets
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08F—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING CARBON-TO-CARBON UNSATURATED BONDS
  • C08F216/00—Copolymers of compounds having one or more unsaturated aliphatic radicals, each having only one carbon-to-carbon double bond, and at least one being terminated by an alcohol, ether, aldehydo, ketonic, acetal or ketal radical
  • C08F216/02—Copolymers of compounds having one or more unsaturated aliphatic radicals, each having only one carbon-to-carbon double bond, and at least one being terminated by an alcohol, ether, aldehydo, ketonic, acetal or ketal radical by an alcohol radical
  • C08F216/04—Acyclic compounds
  • C08F216/06—Polyvinyl alcohol ; Vinyl alcohol
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D17/00—Detergent materials or soaps characterised by their shape or physical properties
  • C11D17/04—Detergent materials or soaps characterised by their shape or physical properties combined with or containing other objects
  • C11D17/041—Compositions releasably affixed on a substrate or incorporated into a dispensing means
  • C11D17/042—Water soluble or water disintegrable containers or substrates containing cleaning compositions or additives for cleaning compositions
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D17/00—Detergent materials or soaps characterised by their shape or physical properties
  • C11D17/04—Detergent materials or soaps characterised by their shape or physical properties combined with or containing other objects
  • C11D17/041—Compositions releasably affixed on a substrate or incorporated into a dispensing means
  • C11D17/042—Water soluble or water disintegrable containers or substrates containing cleaning compositions or additives for cleaning compositions
  • C11D17/043—Liquid or thixotropic (gel) compositions
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C11—ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES OR WAXES; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; DETERGENTS; CANDLES
  • C11D—DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; RESIN SOAPS; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL
  • C11D3/00—Other compounding ingredients of detergent compositions covered in group C11D1/00
  • C11D3/16—Organic compounds
  • C11D3/37—Polymers
  • C11D3/3746—Macromolecular compounds obtained by reactions only involving carbon-to-carbon unsaturated bonds
  • C11D3/3753—Polyvinylalcohol; Ethers or esters thereof
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08J—WORKING-UP; GENERAL PROCESSES OF COMPOUNDING; AFTER-TREATMENT NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C08B, C08C, C08F, C08G or C08H
  • C08J2329/00—Characterised by the use of homopolymers or copolymers of compounds having one or more unsaturated aliphatic radicals, each having only one carbon-to-carbon double bond, and at least one being terminated by an alcohol, ether, aldehydo, ketonic, acetal, or ketal radical; Hydrolysed polymers of esters of unsaturated alcohols with saturated carboxylic acids; Derivatives of such polymer
  • C08J2329/02—Homopolymers or copolymers of unsaturated alcohols
  • C08J2329/04—Polyvinyl alcohol; Partially hydrolysed homopolymers or copolymers of esters of unsaturated alcohols with saturated carboxylic acids
• • Y—GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
  • Y10—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC
  • Y10T—TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER US CLASSIFICATION
  • Y10T428/00—Stock material or miscellaneous articles
  • Y10T428/13—Hollow or container type article [e.g., tube, vase, etc.]
  • Y10T428/1334—Nonself-supporting tubular film or bag [e.g., pouch, envelope, packet, etc.]

Definitions

• This invention relates to uses of polyvinyl alcohol copolymers.
• Description of the Prior Art There is a consumer need for water-soluble packaging, which offers the consumer convenience and can reduce packaging waste persistent in the environment when the packaging material is ultimately degraded by microorganisms at sewage treatment plants.
• This convenience to the consumer can also include the benefit of unit-dose packaging, which does not require measurement or handling of package contents. It can be particularly attractive to package laundry detergent in such a manner, and in fact such packaging is in use today to deHver liquid laundry detergent and automatic dishwasher cleaning agents.
• PVOH polyvinyl alcohol
• VAM vinyl acetate monomer
• PVAc polyvinyl acetate
• the PVAc is then transesterified - in most commercial processes with methanol - to afford PVOH and methyl acetate.
• PVOH that is >98% hydrolyzed that is, less than 2% residual vinyl acetate
• PVOH that is >98% hydrolyzed that is, less than 2% residual vinyl acetate
• This temperature is inconvenient for consumers.
• packaging materials that dissolve in cold water, that is, water at a temperature of from 10-25 0 C.
• the crystallinity of the polymer is conveniently and conventionally reduced by carrying out the transesterification of PVAc in such a manner as to not complete the conversion to PVOH and obtain a product that is conventionally known as partially hydrolyzed PVOH (phPVOH).
• commercial grades of phPVOH include Celvol 523 from Celanese Chemicals and Kuraray POVAL PVA 217 sold by Kuraray Co., Ltd.
• the degree of conversion loosely referred in the industry as "hydrolysis" in most cases varies from 78-99.8%, and 88% hydrolyzed is an especially common grade for water soluble packaging.
• Post-polymerization or post- copolymerization modifications of PVOH can reduce crystallinity. Adding polar groups to the polymer can increase the hydrophilicity of the polymer. This can be accomplished by post-polymerization reaction or by copolymerization method. Post polymerization reactions have been reviewed (Polyvinyl Alcohol- Developments; Finch, C.A., Ed.; John Wiley & Sons: New York, 1992).
• One known copolymerization method to increase hydrophilicity is to copolymerize VAM with an acid- containing monomer such as acrylic acid or others as described in US 4,885,105. After transesterification of such a copolymer a hydrophilic carboxylic acid or carboxylic acid salt remains.
• a cold water soluble film can be obtained by copolymerization of VAM with a monomer that later undergoes a chemical reaction to render it hydrophilic.
• VAM/methyl acrylate (MA) copolymer is known to undergo transesterification reaction to a PVOH copolymer where the MA carboxyl group has formed a lactone structure with a neighboring alcohol unit (Polyvinyl Alcohol- Developments; Finch, C.A., Ed.;
• This lactone-containing polymer is not soluble in cold water. However, after treatment with alkali such as sodium hydroxide the lactone is converted to the ring-opened, sodium carboxylate form which is cold water soluble.
• the films should be compatible with the chemicals they contain, at least for enough time that premature rupture of the package does not occur. For example, a film made from phPVOH is sensitive to high or low pH chemicals, as they cause hydrolysis of the residual vinyl acetate, effecting change to cold-water insoluble PVOH.
• PVOH copolymers from monomers containing carboxylate or carboxylate precursor groups are stable to high pH. However at lower pH the carboxylic acid can undergo ion-exchange with protons in the film's encapsulate. If the number of carbon atoms separating the carboxylate carbon and oxygen atom of a neighboring alcohol group is equal to three, then the groups can undergo lactonization to afford the water-insoluble lactone-containing copolymer. This package then does not completely dissolve, leading to consumer dissatisfaction.
• the pH where lactonization reaction begins to occur is about ⁇ 8, depending on the concentration of the ions in the encapsulate.
• a copolymer that includes itaconic acid (IA), which is convenient to manufacture due to its high conversion during polymerization, can be a useful carboxylate copolymer.
• WO 94/04656 describes use of 2-8 mol% IA copolymer in water soluble packaging application. This copolymer retains cold water solubility to a better extent than a methyl acrylate copolymer that has been converted to sodium carboxylate form by caustic. For example, a film using greater than or equal to 4 mol% IA gave good solubility stability after prolonged contact with Ariel liquid laundry detergent.
• the present invention is a film useful as a cold-water soluble detergent sachet comprising a terpolymer composition comprising vinyl alcohol, methyl acrylate, and itaconic acid moieties, wherein: (i) the terpolymer comprises less than about 5 mol% of vinyl acetate moieties; (ii) the methyl acrylate is present in an amount of at least about 1 mol% up to about 9 mol%; (iii) the itaconic acid is present in an amount of at least about 1 mol% up to about 9 mol%, and, (iv) the methyl acrylate is in the form of a lactone.
• PVA copolymers of the present invention can be obtained by known and conventional methods. PVA is typically obtained by copolymerization of ethylene and vinyl acetate comonomers, followed by hydrolysis of the vinyl acetate copolymer to the vinyl alcohol copolymer. As used herein, the term complete hydrolysis, or 100% hydrolysis, shall be taken to mean that a stoichiometrically sufficient amount of reagent has been added to hydrolyze 100 mol% of the acetate groups of a polyvinyl acetate.
• a PVA copolymer of the present invention can comprise some residual un-hydrolyzed acetate moieties.
• a PVA copolymer of the present invention comprises less than about 5 mol% residual acetate moieties, more preferably less than about 3 mol%, most preferably less than about 2 mol%.
• the PVA/acid copolymer of the present invention comprises from at least about 1 mol% to about 10 mol% itaconic acid (IA).
• the PVA acid copolymer comprises from about 1 to about 9 mol% itaconic acid, more preferably from about 1 to about 5 mol%, and most preferably from about 1 to about 3 mol% itaconic acid.
• the itaconic acid is present in an amount of at least about 2 mol%.
• the degree of polymerization of the PVA acid copolymer is from about 400 to about 4000.
• the degree of polymerization of the PVA copolymer is from about 500 to about 2000.
• the PVA acid copolymer of the present invention is a terpolymer comprising vinyl alcohol and itaconic acid constituents, and additionally comprising a second acid polymer constituent that is either an acrylic or a methyl acrylate unit.
• a PVA mixed acid terpolymer of the present invention can be preferred in some cases.
• the present invention is a polyvinyl alcohol terpolymer composition wherein the terpolymer comprises vinyl alcohol, methyl acrylate, and itaconic acid moieties, wherein the vinyl alcohol is present in an amount of at least about 90 mol%.
• the vinyl alcohol is present in an amount of at least about 92 mol%, and most preferably at least about 94 mol%.
• itaconic acid is present in an amount of from at least about 1.0 mol% up to about 9 mol%
• methyl acrylate is present in an amount of from at least about 1 mol% up to about 9 mol%. It can be desirable to reduce the IA content of the copolymer, for cost reasons, to a level of less than about 2.8% by incorporating more of the methyl acrylate. Incorporating functional equivalents of MA or IA is also contemplated as within the scope of the present invention.
• alkyl (meth)acrylates such as methylmethacrylate, butyl acrylate, or ethyl (meth)acrylate (wherein "(meth)acrylate” is shorthand for either a methacrylate or an acrylate) are considered functional equivalents of methyl acrylate.
• a film can be prepared from a composition of the present invention by conventional methods known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
• a film can be prepared as a cast film.
• Other methods of preparing a film from the composition described herein would be known to one of ordinary skill in the art.
• a film comprising the terpolymer composition described herein is soluble in a cold aqueous solution at a temperature of less than or equal to about 25°C.
• the film is soluble in water that is at a temperature of from about 1O 0 C to about 25 0 C.
• the terpolymer comprises methyl acrylate that essentially exists in the lactone form rather than in the acid or carboxylate form.
• cold-water solubility of a film described herein can be useful in practical applications such as for detergent sachets or pouches that dissolve in cold water to allow the detergent contents to mix with the water, without leaving an insoluble polymer residue from the package.
• a cold-water soluble pouch of the present invention can also be used to contain other cleaning chemicals, insecticides, herbicides, and similar materials, with the caveat that the contents of the pouch should be compatible or otherwise not readily degrade or react with the pouch composition.
• a 2 L polymer kettle was assembled with an overhead stirrer, a Claisen head with a multi-inlet port fitting connected to 2 syringe pumps and a tap-H 2 ⁇ condenser further attached to a N 2 bubbler, an overhead thermowell with a thermocouple device, and a septum.
• the agitator was a single PTFE paddle and the stir rate was set to 80 rpm.
• the kettle was charged with 1000 g vinyl acetate (Aldrich Chemical co., Milwaukee, Wl, USA) 401 g MeOH (EM Science), 1.5 g itaconic acid (Aldrich), and 0.6 g methyl acrylate (Aldrich) then degassed at rt for 20 minutes with a sparging tube.
• the solids were determined to be 17.8% at this time.
• the polymer is thus 4.1 mol% itaconic acid and 1.6 mol% methyl acrylate.
• the polyvinyl acetate terpolymer was transferred to a 3 L round bottom flask. The flask was attached to a rotary evaporator and MeOH/vinyl acetate azeotrope was removed at reduced pressure. Addition of 500 g of MeOH followed by azeotropic distillation was repeated 3 times, at which time removal of vinyl acetate was judged substantially complete.
• the polyvinyl acetate was dissolved in 700 g of MeOH and charged to a 1 gallon explosion-proof stainless steel blender (Eberbach Corp., Ann Arbor, Ml).
• the blender was set to stir at 10,000 rpm then 430 g of 25 wt% sodium methoxide in methanol (Aldrich) was added through a small hole in the blender's cover. The ensuing heterogeneous mixture was stirred for 10 minutes, then 143 g of glacial acetic acid (EM Science) was slowly added. The mixture was stirred 2 minutes, then filtered. The polymer product was rinsed 3 times with MeOH and once with acetone, then dried in a vacuum oven at 80 °C overnight. 151 g of white terpolymer powder were isolated.
• the viscosity was determined to be 21.8 mPa-s (cP) (4% solids aqueous solution at 20 °C (68 0 F), determined by Hoeppler falling ball method). Infrared analysis in ATR mode of the polymer showed the presence of a lactone carbonyl peak at 1745 cm “1 , an acid carboxyl at 1705 cm “1 , and a sodium carboxylate at 1572 cm “1 . Examples 5-9 were prepared in the same manner, except that the polymerization time was 175 minutes and the precharge and feed rates of itaconic acid (IA) and methyl acrylate (MA) were modified as shown in Table 1.
• IA itaconic acid
• MA methyl acrylate
• ltaconic acid copolymers were prepared by the same method, with the exception that only one syringe pump was utilized.
• Polymers were dissolved to 13% solids in 80 °C H 2 O. Plasticizers, surfactants, antiblock agents, and other components were added. CarbowaxTM polyethylene glycol 200 (Union Carbide, Danbury, Ct.) was also added. The final compositions excluding H 2 O contained polymer, additive package, and polyethylene glycol in a ratio of 65:33.7:1.3. The solution was cooled to room temperature, and a film was cast on a glass plate using an 8" wide knife with a 10 mil gate (Gardner Laboratory, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA). The film was allowed to dry at room temperature overnight.
• a 14 oz round, plastic container with diameter of 5" was charged with 100 mL of Ariel Essential liquid laundry detergent (Proctor & Gamble Co.; pH of the neat detergent was 7.3 and of the aqueous (tap water) 5 wt% solution was 7.9).
• a 3 mil film of the previous example with a diameter ca. 0.5" greater than the diameter of the container was placed on top of the container, then the lid was attached to the container, thus forming a seal.
• the container was then inverted and placed in a 38 0 C oven for accelerated aging. Samples were removed periodically, and the time for an 8 cm 2 piece of film to dissolve in 500 mL of stirred, room temperature water was determined.

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• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical Kinetics & Catalysis (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Oil, Petroleum & Natural Gas (AREA)
• Wood Science & Technology (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Polymers & Plastics (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Health & Medical Sciences (AREA)
• Medicinal Chemistry (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Dispersion Chemistry (AREA)
• Wrappers (AREA)
• Addition Polymer Or Copolymer, Post-Treatments, Or Chemical Modifications (AREA)
• Manufacture Of Macromolecular Shaped Articles (AREA)
• Bag Frames (AREA)
• Detergent Compositions (AREA)

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• 2005
  • 2005-08-09 US US11/199,881 patent/US7767282B2/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2005-08-10 CN CN200580027228.9A patent/CN101023109B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2005-08-10 WO PCT/US2005/028583 patent/WO2006020785A1/en not_active Ceased
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