Rubber-modified acrylic copolymer thermoset

Claim 2

A thermoset produce molded from (A) about 70 to about 90 parts by weight of an alpha-beta, olefinically-unsaturated, copolymer of monovinyl monomers consisting essentially of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, having average molecular weight between about 1,000 and about 25,000 and containing between about 0.5 and about 5 units of alpha-beta olefinic unsaturation per 1,000 units molecular weight, said copolymer of monovinyl monomers having alpha-beta olefinic unsaturation pendant from its principal carbon-to-carbon chain through an ester linkage and being the polymeric product formed by reacting carboxyl of an alpha-beta olefinically unsaturated monocarboxylic acid with epoxide of an addition copolymer of monovinyl monomers of which at least one constituent monomer is an epoxy-functional acrylate or methacrylate, and (B) a crosslinking amount about 10 to about 30 parts by weight of graded-Rubber particles having alpha-beta olefinic-unsaturation, surface functionality and crosslinked through the olefinic unsaturation of said copolymer of monovinyl monomers and the olefinic unsaturation of said graded-rubber particles, said graded-rubber particles consisting essentially of

Claim 3

about 90 to about 10 weight percent of an outer shell having glass transition temperature above that of said core and consisting essentially of the polymerization product of monomer mixtures selected from the group consisting of a. about 65 to about 98 mole percent methyl methacrylate and about 2 to about 35 mole percent of an epoxy-functional acrylate, and b. about 2 to about 35 mole percent of an epoxy-functional acrylate and about 65 to about 98 mole percent of a mixture consisting essentially of esters of acrylic or methacrylic acid and a C1 - C8 monohydric alcohol, C8 - C9 monovinyl hydrocarbons, 0 to 30 mole percent of a difunctional compound selected from the group consisting of divinyl benzene and diesters of acrylic or methacrylic acid and a C2 - C6 dihydric alcohol and 0 to 30 mole percent of a monomer selected from acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile and vinyl acetate, and being provided with alpha-beta olefinic-unsaturation, surface functionality by reacting resultant epoxy groups on the surfaces of said outer shell with an alpha-beta olefinically unsaturated monocarboxylic acid.

Claim 4

between 90 and 10 weight percent of an outer shell having glass transition temperature above that of said core and consisting essentially of the polymerization product of monomer mixtures selected from the group consisting of a. about 65 to about 98 mole percent methyl methacrylate and about 2 to about 35 mole percent of an epoxy-functional acrylate, and b. about 2 to about 35 mole percent of an epoxy-functional acrylate and about 65 to about 98 mole percent of a mixture consisting essentially of esters of acrylic or methacrylic acid and a C1 - C8 monohydric alcohol, C8 - C9 monovinyl hydrocarbons, 0 to 30 mole percent of a monomer selected from acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile and vinyl acetate, and being provided with alpha-beta olefinic-unsaturation, surface functionality by reacting resultant epoxy groups on the surfaces of said outer shell with an alpha-beta olefinically-unsaturated monocarboxylic acid, and being further characterized in that the average weight of the outer shells of said graded-rubber particles is between about 10 and about 60 percent of the average weight of the cores of the same.

Claim 5

A thermoset product in accordance with claim 2 wherein said alpha-beta olefinically unsaturated monocarboxylic acid is acrylic acid.

Claim 6

A thermoset product in accordance with claim 2 wherein said alpha-beta olefinically unsaturated monocarboxylic acid is methacrylic acid.

Claim 7

A thermoset product in accordance with claim 2 wherein said outer shell has glass transition temperature at least 50* C. above that of said core.

Claim 8

A thermoset product in accordance with claim 2 wherein said major amount is about 80 to about 98 mole percent and said minor and crosslinking amount is about 2 to about 20 mole percent.

Claim 9

A thermoset product in accordance with claim 2 wherein said copolymer of vinyl monomers has average molecular weight in the range of 2,000 to about 15,000.

Claim 10

A thermoset product in accordance with claim 2 wherein said copolymer of vinyl monomers contains between about 0.7 and about 3.5 units of alpha-beta olefinic unsaturation per 1,000 units molecular weight.

Claim 11

A thermoset product molded from (A) about 70 to about 90 parts by weight of an alpha-beta olefinically-unsaturated copolymer of monovinyl monomers consisting essentially of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, having average molecular weight between about 2,000 and about 15,000 and containing about 0.7 to about 3.5 units of alpha-beta olefinic unsaturation per 1,000 units molecular weight, said copolymer of monovinyl monomers having alpha-beta olefinic unsaturation pendant from its principal carbon-to-carbon chain through an ester linkage and being the polymeric product formed by reacting carboxyl of an alpha-beta olefinically unsaturated monocarboxylic acid with epoxide of an addition copolymer of monovinyl monomers of which at least one constituent monomer is an epoxy-functional acrylate or methacrylate, and (B) a crosslinking amount of about 10 to about 30 parts by weight of graded-rubber particles having alpha-beta olefinic-unsaturation, surface functionality and crosslinked through the olefinic unsaturation of said copolymer of monovinyl monomers and the olefinic unsaturation of said graded-rubber particles, said graded-rubber particles consisting essentially of

Claim 12

A thermoset product in accordance with claim 9 wherein said copolymer of vinyl monomers is a copolymer of glycidyl methacrylate and an ester of acrylic or methacrylic acid and a C1 - C8 monohydric alcohol which has been reacted with acrylic or methacrylic acid.

Claim 13

A thermoset product in accordance with claim 9 wherein said copolymer of vinyl monomers is a copolymer of glycidyl methacrylate, an ester of acrylic or methacrylic acid and a C1 -C8 monohydric alcohol, and methacrylonitrile which has been reacted with acrylic or methacrylic acid.

Claim 14

A thermoset product in accordance with claim 9 wherein said copolymer of vinyl monomers is a copolymer of acrylic or methacrylic acid and methacrylonitrile which has been reacted with glycidyl methacrylate.

Claim 15

A thermoset product in accordance with claim 9 wherein said particles of graded rubber have average diameter in the range of 0.04 to 1. micron.