Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08L—COMPOSITIONS OF MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS
  • C08L59/00—Compositions of polyacetals; Compositions of derivatives of polyacetals
  • C08L59/04—Copolyoxymethylenes
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08L—COMPOSITIONS OF MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS
  • C08L59/00—Compositions of polyacetals; Compositions of derivatives of polyacetals
  • C08L59/02—Polyacetals containing polyoxymethylene sequences only
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08G—MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS OBTAINED OTHERWISE THAN BY REACTIONS ONLY INVOLVING UNSATURATED CARBON-TO-CARBON BONDS
  • C08G2/00—Addition polymers of aldehydes or cyclic oligomers thereof or of ketones; Addition copolymers thereof with less than 50 molar percent of other substances
  • C08G2/08—Polymerisation of formaldehyde
• • 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
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08K—Use of inorganic or non-macromolecular organic substances as compounding ingredients
  • C08K3/00—Use of inorganic substances as compounding ingredients
• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C08—ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS; THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP; COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
  • C08L—COMPOSITIONS OF MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS
  • C08L3/00—Compositions of starch, amylose or amylopectin or of their derivatives or degradation products
  • C08L3/12—Amylose; Amylopectin; Degradation products thereof

Definitions

• the present invention relates to polyoxymethylene polymer compositions having a fraction of radiocarbon, that is, 14 C indicating that the polyoxymethylene is partially or entirely derived from non- fossil carbon sources.
• Polyoxymethylene also known as polyacetal or polyformaldehye has excellent tribology, hardness, stiffness, moderate toughness, low coefficient of friction, good solvent resistance, and the ability to crystallize rapidly. Articles from POM polymers and POM compositions have excellent performance in demanding
• polyoxymethylene terpolymer b) 0 to 20 weight per cent of one or more additives selected from the group consisting of lubricants, flow modifiers, plasticizers, nucleants, heat stabilizers, antioxidants, dyes, pigments, and UV stabilizer;
• the weight percents are based on the total weight of the composition.
• the polyoxymethylene polymer has a Mean Biobased Content of at least 20 per cent determined with ASTM-D6866 method.
• the terms “about” and “at or about” mean that the amount or value in question may be the value designated or some other value approximately or about the same. The term is intended to convey that similar values promote equivalent results or effects recited in the claims.
• a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is not limited to only the listed elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent.
• "or” refers to an inclusive, not an exclusive, or. For example, a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true (or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or not present) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (or present).
• polyoxymethylene refers to polyoxymethylene polymer that has a detectable amount of biobased carbon which derives from a "biosourced feedstock” or “renewable feedstock” as defined herein below.
• Fossil carbon refers to carbon that contains very little radiocarbon, also termed 14 C isotope or 14 C, because its age is very much greater than the 5730 year half-life of 14 C.
• Fossil carbon generally derives from fossil fuels, which are fuels that have been formed by anaerobic decomposition of buried dead organisms and the age of which is typically millions of years.
• Fossil fuels include coal, petroleum, and natural gas and range from volatile materials with low carbon to hydrogen ratios like methane, to liquid petroleum to nonvolatile materials composed of almost pure carbon, like anthracite coal. Origins of the traces of carbon- 14 found in fossil fuels are not certain but nevertheless concentrations are far less than those of contemporary biomaterials.
• non-fossil carbon refers to carbon that contains radiocarbon, i.e. 14 C.
• Non-fossil carbon includes biobased organic carbon compounds and/or carbon from atmospheric carbon dioxide.
• 14 C may be the result of nuclear testing, which introduces enhanced 14 C levels into the atmosphere, or natural processes such as production from nitrogen as a result of irradiation caused by cosmic rays in the upper atmosphere.
• biosourced feedstock refers to a renewable biological source of carbon and includes vegetable matter including grains, vegetable oils, cellulose, lignin, fatty acids; and animal matter including fats, tallow, oils such as whale oil, fish oils, animal wastes such as manure and the like, or any intermediate chemical prepared from these biosourced feedstocks.
• Biosourced carbon or “biobased carbon” refer to carbon that derives from a renewable, modern source of carbon, like vegetable or animal matter.
• the terms “renewable methanol”, “environmentally sustainable methanol”, “biomethanol”, “green methanol” refer to methanol (CH 3 OH) that is partially or wholly derived from a biobased carbon source. Such sources derive from plant and/or animal sources that contain sufficient radiocarbon amenable to radio-carbon dating.
• the terms “renewable formaldehyde”, “environmentally sustainable formaldehyde”, “bio formaldehyde”, “green formaldehyde” refer to formaldehyde (CH 2 O) that is partially or wholly derived from a carbon source that is not a fossil fuel source, for example, being made from renewable methanol.
• radiocarbon dating refers to a method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope 14 C to determine the age of carbonaceous materials up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years.
• Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present", with “Present” defined as the year 1950 CE. Such raw ages can be calibrated to give calendar dates.
• Mean Biobased Content refers to the amount of biobased carbon in the material as a percent of the weight (mass) of the total organic carbon in the material.
• Biobased carbon derives from a “biosourced feedstock” or “renewable feedstock” as defined hereinabove.
• fc refers to the fraction of Contemporary carbon.
• f M refers to the fraction of Modern carbon, fc is calculated from fM, which is an observed value, taken over recent decades, and includes the combination of the following: the effect of fossil dilution of atmospheric 14 C (minor) and the effect of the enhancement of atmospheric 14 C due to nuclear testing in the late 1950s up to the nuclear test ban treaty (major).
• fc and fM The relation between fc and fM is a function of time.
• the factor of enhancement of atmospheric 14 C due to nuclear testing had decreased to about 1.20 (compared to the expected level of atmospheric 14 C).
• fc 1.00 (this value is set by definition, since the source of carbon was created in 1985).
• the fM for 1985 was 1.20.
• the term "Mean Biobased Content” as defined above is also known as the fraction of contemporary carbon, as in L. A. Currie, et al. (1989) "Microchemical and Molecular Dating” in RADIOCARBON, Vol. 31(3): 448-463.
• Mean Biobased Content “Mean Biobased Content”, “fraction of Contemporary carbon”, and “amount of biobased carbon in a material as a percent of the weight of total organic carbon in the material” all indicate a measure of the carbon in a material derived from contemporary, biological sources as differentiated from the carbon in a material derived from a fossil/petrol source.
• polyamides refers to condensation polymers having amide repeat units, such as polyamide 6,6.
• formaldehyde equivalents refers to the fact that formaldehyde, being a gas at room temperature, readily converts to derivatives that behave similarly to gaseous formaldehyde and which are used in industry.
• Such derivatives are known as formaldehyde equivalents and appreciated as such by those of skill in the art, and include, but are not limited to, the cyclic compound trioxane, formalin (formaline)— which is an aqueous solution of formaldehyde, paraformaldehyde, 1,3 trioxane, reversible complexes with alcohols such as methanol, and mixtures of these.
• formaldehyde equivalents include, but are not limited to, the cyclic compound trioxane, formalin (formaline)— which is an aqueous solution of formaldehyde, paraformaldehyde, 1,3 trioxane, reversible complexes with alcohols such as methanol, and mixtures of these.
• formaldehyde equivalents
• renewable polyoxymethylene ["POM”] polymer comprising renewable polyoxymethylene ["POM”] polymer.
• Renewable POM polymer can be prepared by purifying methanol that contains carbon from a biological source, such as present day vegetable and animal material, and converting the methanol into formaldehyde or a formaldehyde equivalent such as 1,3 trioxane. The formaldehyde or formaldehyde equivalent is polymerized to provide the POM polymer, which may be termed renewable by virtue of the biological source of the carbon.
• polyoxymethylene compositions comprising polyoxymethylene polymer, wherein the polyoxymethylene polymer has a Mean
• Polyoxymethylene polymers may be homopolymer, copolymer, terpolymer, or mixtures of these.
• Polyoxymethylene homopolymers are prepared by polymerizing formaldehyde or formaldehyde equivalents, such as cyclic oligomers of formaldehyde.
• Preferred homopolymers have terminal groups that are end-capped either in
• Preferred end groups for homopolymers are acetate and alkoxy (especially methoxy) and preferred end groups for copolymers are hydroxy, acetate and alkoxy (especially methoxy).
• Polyoxymethylene copolymers may contain one or more comonomers generally used in preparing polyoxymethylene compositions. Preferable copolymers are not completely end-capped, but have some free hydroxy ends from the comonomer unit or are terminated with ether groups.
• Commonly used comonomers include acetals and cyclic ethers that lead to the incorporation into the polymer chain of ether units with 2-12 sequential carbon atoms.
• Preferable comonomers are 1,3-dioxolane, dioxepane, ethylene oxide, and butylene oxide, where 1,3-dioxolane is more preferred. If a polyoxymethylene copolymer is selected, the quantity of comonomer will not be more than 5 mol percent, preferably not more than 2 mol percent, and most preferably about 1 mol percent or less, of the copolymer.
• Comonomers such as polyethylene glycol can be used to prepare, for example, block copolymers with content, by weight, of the non-formaldehyde block up to 50%.
• Comonomers such as isocyanates, glycidyl ethers or polyhydric alcohols can be used to prepare, for example, branched copolymers.
• Other comonomers with suitable reactive groups can be used, as is apparent to one skilled in the art, if they react in the polymerization of formaldehyde or formaldehyde equivalent.
• the polyoxymethylene polymers described herein can be branched or linear and generally have a number average molecular weight of at least 10,000, preferably 10,000- 250,000 and more preferably 10,000- 90,000.
• the molecular weight can be conveniently measured by gel permeation chromatography in hexafluoroisopropanol at 35 0 C using Shodex GPC HFIP-806MTM styrene-divinyl benzene columns or by determining the melt flow using ASTM D1238 or ISO 1133.
• the melt flow will be in the range of 0.1 to 100 g/min, preferably from 0.5 to 60 g/min, or more preferably from 0.8 to 40 g/min. for injection molding purposes.
• Other structures and processes such as films, fibers, and blow molding may prefer other melt viscosity ranges.
• Using a method that relies on determining the amount of radiocarbon dating isotope 14 C (half life of 5730 years) in the compositions described herein can identify whether the carbon in these compositions derives from a biosource— from modern plant or animals— or from a fossil source, or a mixture of these. Carbon from fossil sources generally has a 14 C amount very close to zero. Measuring the 14 C isotope amount of the polyoxymethylene [POM] polymer itself, a POM intermediate, or an article containing the POM polymer can verify that the material or article derives from a biosource of carbon and quantify the percent of biosourced carbon.
• POM polyoxymethylene
• ASTM D6866 Methods A-C can be used to determine the mean biobased content by 14 C isotope determination, similar to radiocarbon dating. Determining the 14 C amount via these methods gives a measure of the Mean Biobased Content of the tested material, i.e., the amount of biobased carbon of the tested material as a percent of the weight (mass) of its total organic carbon. Method B may be preferable as the most accurate.
• pMC percent Modern Carbon
• the 14 C isotope level of the formaldehyde precursor may be manipulated by combining a biosource of carbon with a fossil source of carbon. This mixture may then be used to produce POM intermediates, the POM itself and articles made therefrom, that each have the same desired, specific percentage of 14 C isotope as the formaldehyde precursor.
• the carbon sources of synthesis gas may be a blend of a biosource of carbon and a fossil source of carbon, such as comes from a municipal waste stream.
• the measurement of the 14 C content of the biomethanol will be an accurate and valid method to assess the 14 C content of each of the intermediates, the POM and the contribution by the POM to the articles made therefrom.
• pMC can be used to calculate the Mean Biobased Content of a material.
• a Mean Biobased Content value is derived by assigning 100% equal to 107.5 pMC and 0% equal to 0 pMC.
• a material having 100 pMC will give an equivalent Mean Biobased Content result of 93 %.
• the Mean Biobased Content assumes all the components within the analyzed material were either present day living or fossil in origin.
• the results provided by the ASTM D6866 method B encompass an absolute range of 6 %, plus and minus 3%, of the Mean Biobased Content, to account for variations in end-component radiocarbon signatures. It is presumed that all materials are present day or fossil in origin. The result is the amount of biobased component present in the material, not the amount of biobased material used in the manufacturing process.
• the biomethanol from synthesis gas, the formaldehyde and the POM polymer therefrom each have a Mean Biobased Content of at least 20 percent, as determined with the ASTM-D6866 Method.
• the biomethanol, formaldehyde and POM polymer made therefrom each may have a Mean Biobased Content of at least 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, and 98 percent, respectively, as determined with the ASTM-D6866 Method.
• the polyoxymethylene compositions described herein may, optionally, include from 0 to 20 weight per cent of one or more organic additives selected from the group consisting of lubricants, impact modifiers, flow modifiers, heat stabilizers, plasticizers, antioxidants, dyes, pigments, and UV stabilizers, nucleants and the like.
• suitable impact modifiers include thermoplastic polyurethanes, polyester polyether elastomers, and ethylene/alkyl acrylate and ethylene/alkyl methacrylate copolymers.
• lubricants include silicone lubricants such as dimethylpolysiloxanes and their derivatives; oleic acid amides; alkyl acid amides; bis- fatty acid amides such as N,N'-ethylenebisstearamide; non-ionic surfactant lubricants; hydrocarbon waxes; chlorohydrocarbons; fluoropolymers; oxy-fatty acids; esters such as lower alcohol esters of fatty acids; polyvalent alcohols such as polyglycols and polyglycerols; and metal salts of fatty acids such as lauric acid and stearic acid.
• Preferred antioxidants are hindered phenol antioxidants such as Irganox® 245 and 1090
• antioxidants available from Ciba.
• Examples of ultraviolet light stabilizers include benzotriazoles and benzophenones.
• compositions may include 0.05 to 2 weight percent of one or more polymeric thermal stabilizers selected from the group consisting of ethylene copolymers of glycidyl esters; polyacrylamide; polymethacrylamide; polyamides; polysaccharides selected from the group consisting of amylopectin from maize and soluble starch;
• polyethylene/vinyl alcohol copolymers and mixtures of these.
• the ethylene copolymers of glycidyl esters are of the formula E/X/Y wherein
• E comprises 40-90 weight percent of the ethylene copolymer and is the radical formed from ethylene and
• R 1 is H, CH 3 or C 2 H 5
• R 2 is an alkyl group having 1-8 carbon atoms; vinyl acetate; or a mixture of these;
• Y comprises 0.5-20 weight percent of the ethylene copolymer and is a radical formed from monomers selected from the group consisting of
• R 3 is glycidyl, and R 1 is H, CH 3 or C 2 H 5.
• compositions may include one or more fillers, which may range from 0 to 50 weight percent of filler(s) based on the total weight of the composition.
• the filler may be any material commonly used as such, e.g., reinforcing agents, and other fillers.
• the filler may or may not have a coating on it, for example, a sizing and/or a coating to improve adhesion of the filler to the polymers of the composition.
• the filler may be organic or inorganic.
• Useful fillers include clay, sepiolite, talc, wollastonite, mica, and calcium carbonate; glass in various forms such as fibers, milled glass, solid or hollow glass spheres; carbon as black or fiber; titanium dioxide; aramid in the form of powders; metal powders and combinations of these.
• compositions may further include one or more additional polymers including polyethylene, polyethylene copolymers with alkyl methacrylate, polyethylene copolymers with alkyl acrylates, polyethylene copolymers with combinations of alkyl methacrylate and alkyl acrylates, styrenic copolymers, polyethylene copolymers with vinyl phenols, cellulosic esters, e.g., cellulose acetate, propionate and butyrate, polylactic acid, ethylene copolymer of glycidyl (meth)acrylate, mixtures of ethylene copolymer of glycidyl (meth)acrylate and one or more (meth)acrylate esters, and mixtures of these.
• additional polymers including polyethylene, polyethylene copolymers with alkyl methacrylate, polyethylene copolymers with alkyl acrylates, polyethylene copolymers with combinations of alkyl methacrylate and alkyl acrylates, styrenic copo
• U.S. Pat. No. 7,268,190 discloses blends of polyoxymethylene with polylactic acid.
• the one or more additional polymers are less than 20 weight percent of the total weight of the composition.
• fillers, additional polymers and other polymers may themselves be derived from (or actually consist of) contemporary biocarbons, these can be separated from the polyoxymethylene as described below and their contribution to the carbon- 14 isotope content excluded.
• Polyoxymethylene [POM] is in effect polyformaldehyde or paraformaldehyde. POM is conveniently made by polymerization of formaldehyde. Making the
• compositions that comprise a POM polymer having a Mean Biobased Content of greater than 20 percent means that the formaldehyde intermediate of the POM polymer arises at least in part from biosourced or renewable sources of carbon, as defined herein.
• the immediate precursor formaldehyde can be produced from methanol, which has been made from synthesis gas.
• Each of these three precursors of POM can at least in part be produced from biosourced or renewable sources of carbon, as defined herein.
• formaldehyde is produced industrially by the catalytic oxidation of methanol.
• Formaldehyde can be commercially produced by oxidation of methanol over a iron oxide-molybdenum oxide catalyst according to formula (1).
• Methanol is vaporized into a gas stream containing ⁇ 10 mole% oxygen and fed to a multi-tube reactor containing catalyst pellets.
• the reaction normally takes place at atmospheric pressure in seconds at 300-400 0 C with heat of reaction removed by external cooling of the tubes.
• the product gas is then cooled and the formaldehyde removed by absorption into water.
• Details of formaldehyde synthesis from methanol are disclosed in Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, Vol. 12:113, 114. Specific processes for conversion of methanol to formaldehyde are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,383,059, hereby incorporated herein by reference.
• Formaldehyde synthesis can also include a step of making the methanol from synthesis gas [also termed syn gas], which is a mixture of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and water, and well known in the art.
• synthesis gas also termed syn gas
• the synthesis gas arises by partial oxidation of pre-dried powdered materials from biological sources, such as those defined herein and which include forage grasses, trees, animal matter, crop residues, vegetable oils, animal fats, and combinations of these, it is termed biosourced.
• the partial oxidation of materials from biological sources is carried out in the presence of limited amounts of oxygen and water at elevated temperatures, for instance, about 1000 0 C or above, as disclosed in Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology, 5th edition, Vol.l6:302.
• the synthesis gas thus obtained can be reduced under catalytic conditions to provide methanol, which in turn is referred to as biomethanol.
• U.S. Pat. No. 6,991,769 discloses synthesizing methanol from synthesis gas produced from gasifying biomass in a furnace. Since the source of the synthesis gas is biosourced material, the biomethanol produced by the process can have the same elevated 14 C content as the biosourced material.
• Making the polyoxymethylene compositions described herein comprises the steps of providing formaldehyde and polymerizing it to form a polyoxymethylene polymer, which has a Mean Biobased Content of at least 20 per cent determined with ASTM- D6866 method.
• the produced polyoxymethylene polymer may be homopolymer or copolymer and can have a Mean Biobased Content of 50 percent or more, or of 90 percent or more, or of 98 percent or more.
• the formaldehyde to be polymerized may also have a Mean Biobased Content of at least 20 percent determined with ASTM-D6866 method.
• the step of providing the formaldehyde can include the substeps of providing synthesis gas, which may be obtained by gasifying biomass in a furnace, reducing it to methanol using catalysts, and oxidizing the methanol via the use of catalysts to produce formaldehyde.
• the synthesis gas, the methanol, the formaldehyde, or any combination of these can also have Mean Biobased Content of 20 percent or more, or of 50 percent or more, or of 90 percent or more, or of 98 percent or more determined with ASTM-D6866 method.
• synthesis gas, the methanol, the formaldehyde, or any combination of these can also have Mean Biobased Content of 20 percent or more, or of 50 percent or more, or of 90 percent or more, or of 98 percent or more determined with ASTM-D6866 method.
• the other POM intermediates or POM will also have
• the methods described herein may also include a step of blending with the polyoxymethylene composition fillers, thermal stabilizers, additional polymers, other additives, and combinations of these, as described herein. These methods may also include a step of separating other ingredients from the polyoxymethylene compositions to provide the polyoxymethylene polymer.
• These methods may also include a step of verifying a present day, biosource of carbon as opposed to a fossil source of carbon by measuring the Mean Biobased Content by ASTMD6866 of the evolved formaldehyde in the following degradation.
• a sample of the polyoxymethylene composition is ground to about 100 microns and subjected to hydrolysis in the presence of aqueous acid.
• the volatile degradation products resulting from hydrolysis mixture is continually distilled to collect an aqueous formaldehyde solution that can be analyzed using ASTM-D6866 to determine the percent modern carbon.
• the aqueous formaldehyde solution can be purified by distillation or other methods to remove organic impurities and then analyzed to determine the percent modern carbon.
• the polyoxymethylene compositions described herein may be made by melt- blending the ingredients described herein above using any known methods.
• the component materials may be mixed to homogeneity using a melt-mixer such as a single or twin-screw extruder, blender, kneader, Banbury mixer, etc. to give a composition; or, part of the materials may be mixed in a melt-mixer with the rest of the materials then added and further melt-mixed until homogeneous.
• compositions described herein may be shaped into articles using methods known to those skilled in the art, such as injection molding, blow molding, injection blow molding, extrusion, thermoforming, melt casting, vacuum molding, rotational molding, calendar molding, slush molding, filament extrusion and fiber spinning.
• Such articles may include films, fibers and filaments; wire and cable coating; photovoltaic cable coating, optical fiber coating, tubing and pipes; motorized vehicle parts such as body panels, dashboards; components for household appliances, such as washers, dryers, refrigerators and heating-ventilation-air conditioning appliances; connectors in electrical/electronic applications; components for electronic devices, such as computers; components for office-, indoor-, and outdoor- furniture; gears; toys; knobs; parts for conveyors or conveyor belts; bearings; fuel containers; automotive safety restraint systems; pharmaceutical dispensers; medical injection devices; ski bindings; lighter bodies; pen bodies; and seat belt restraints.
• polyoxymethylene compositions described herein can be used to make blends, composites or laminates.
• a suspension is prepared from ground polyoxymethylene composition (20 g, 100 micron average particle size), and dimethylformamide (300 mL), purged with nitrogen for 30 minute at room temperature (RT). The suspension is heated rapidly to reflux (153 0 C) and stirred rapidly until the polymer is fully dissolved; and held at temperature an additional 5 minutes. The hot solution is filtered rapidly to remove insoluble fillers in a heated sintered glass filter. The hot filtrate is cooled below 60 0 C to precipitate the polyoxymethylene polymer.
• the precipitate is filtered, washed 3 times with soaking (15 minutes each time) in methanol and Soxhlet extracted with methanol at least 12 hours.
• the solid polyoxymethylene is dried and Soxhlet extracted with trichloromethane for 6 hours.
• the solid is washed 3 times with soaking (15 minutes each time) with acetone; and dried in vacuum at 70 to 90 0 C at least 12 hours.
• Table 1 shows the Mean Biobased Content of four samples of methanol, an intermediate in the production of polyoxymethylene polymer. ASTM-D6866 Method B was followed to determine the percent modern carbon (pMC). A Mean Biobased Content is derived by assigning 100 % equal to 107.5 pMC and 0% equal to 0 pMC.
• Example El was a 100% biobased methanol provided by the Nagasaki Institute of Applied Science, Japan.
• Example E2 was a partially biobased methanol from
• Biomethanol Chemie Nederland (BioMCN), Netherlands produced from synthesis gas and said to be about 40% biobased and 60% fossil based.
• Comparative example Cl was a commercial methanol from Methanex Corporation, sourced from their Trinidad and Tobago natural-gas based facility, said to be entirely fossil based without biobased carbon.
• Comparative example C2 was a commercial methanol from EMD Chemical Company, USA, thought to contain carbon derived solely from a fossil source. Table 1. Biobased Carbon Content as determined with ASTM-D6866 Method B
• Fossil based content 0 % 61.9 % 99.7 % 99.6 % (percent [%])
• the methanol represented by El had 100 percent biobased carbon and can be converted to corresponding formaldehyde samples having the same biobased content as listed in Table 1 , so long as no other carbon stream (for instance, fossil-carbon derived methanol) is used in the synthesis.
• the formaldehyde samples can then be converted to polyoxymethylene having substantially similar biobased content as that listed in Table 1 , so long as other carbon streams used in the synthesis (e.g. processing solvents, catalysts) are incorporated minimally ( ⁇ 0.1- 2 weight percent) into the polyoxymethylene.
• Chain transfer agents water, methanol, methylal and other reactive impurities, and acetic anhydride
• their contribution to the polymer content is minor, typically ⁇ 0.1 weight percent.
• polyoxymethylene polymers having significantly higher biobased carbon than conventional polyoxymethylenes derived from fossil sources can be provided.

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