The field of the invention is that of cross-linkable or cross-linked silicone compositions, capable of being used, in particular, to form a coating or water-repellent and non-stick film for flexible supports preferably in the form of natural or synthetic polymer films.
These curable, non-stick silicone compositions are applied to such supports, in order to facilitate the removal of adhesive materials laminated in a reversible manner on these supports.
More precisely, the invention relates to the silicone compositions of the type of those comprising:
The invention also relates to the preparation of this type of silicone composition.
The invention also relates to the methods for producing silicone coatings e.g. water-repellent and/or non-stick coatings for flexible supports (e.g. polymer films), from the abovementioned compositions.
These liquid silicone compositions are applied to the support films in industrial coating devices comprising cylinders operating at very high speed (for example 600 m/min). It is clear that in these very high-speed coating procedures, the viscosity of the liquid silicone coating composition must be meticulously adapted to the coating operation conditions.
In practice, the deposition rate of non-stick silicone is comprised between 0.1 and 2, preferably 0.3 and 1 g/m2, which corresponds to thicknesses of the order of a micrometre.
Once applied to the flexible support, the silicone composition cross-links to form a solid non-stick and/or water-repellent silicone coating (e.g. elastomer).
Given the very high-speed industrial coating rates, the cross-linking kinetics must be extremely rapid in order to produce a correct cross-linking, i.e. the non-stick silicone films must be sufficiently cross-linked to be able best to perform their non-stick function and possess the desirable mechanical qualities. The evaluation of the quality of the cross-linking of the non-stick silicone film can in particular be carried out by means of an assay of the non-cross-linked extractable compounds, the quantity of which must be reduced as much as possible. For example, the level of extractables is preferably less than 5%, under normal industrial cross-linking conditions.
The non-stick quality of the outer surface which is free from the silicone coating is expressed by means of the peel force, which must be weak and controlled, for the element intended to be arranged on the support coated by the non-stick silicone film. In a standard fashion, this element can be the adhesive surface of a label or a tape of the same name. Thus, in addition to this low and controlled non-stick quality, the adhesion of the silicone coating to its support must be very high. This adhesion property is judged for example using the “rub off” test, which involves rubbing the surface of the coating with a finger and measuring the number of successive passes which lead to a degradation of the coating.
It is also important that these silicone coating compositions, which are cross-linkable by hydrosilylation e.g. Si—H/Si-Vi, have the longest possible service life at ambient temperature, when they are in the form of a coating bath in industrial coating machines. Flexible supports coated with a non-stick silicone film can be for example:
Now, the technical propositions known at present do not satisfy the abovementioned specifications, in particular vis-à-vis flexible polymer supports, in particular made of polyester (e.g. PET).
For example, the U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,111 discloses in particular non-stick silicone compositions for paper supports comprising linear POSs MViDnMVi with a viscosity of 100-100,000 mPa·s, preferably 100-5,000 mPa·s, linear POSs with Si—H units, a platinum catalyst and, inter alia, a cross-linking inhibitor.
The Application US-A-2004/0161618 describes non-stick silicone compositions having improved adhesion to paper or polymer supports. These compositions include a POS of MDM type bearing active functional grafts of epoxy, oxirane or carboxy type for promoting the attachment of the silicone coating, as well as alkenylated linear POSs MVi2-5 D50-1000 Ta′″≧0 M0-0.5, linear POSs with Si—H units, a platinum catalyst and, inter alia, a cross-linking inhibitor.
The Application WO-A-2004/046267 discloses a non-stick silicone coating having improved anchorage properties on PET “liner” type supports, without this being detrimental to the cross-linking (curing). The cross-linkable silicone composition at the origin of this coating, contains an alkenylated POS resin MVi D15-995 Qa′″≧0, linear POSs with Si—H units, a non-alkenylated POS resin of PolyDiMethylSiloxane type with a viscosity of 10-200,000 mPa·s, e.g 100, 13,500, 60,000 mPa·s, a platinum catalyst and, inter alia, a cross-linking inhibitor.
In this context, the essential objective of the present invention is to propose novel solvent-free liquid silicone coating compositions which are cross-linkable in a non-stick and/or water-repellent coating for flexible supports, instantaneously and leading to cross-linked silicone coatings of very good quality, in particular in terms of attachment/adhesion to the “high rub-off” support and with a non-stick profile (peel force at a sufficiently high speed).
Another essential objective of the invention is to propose novel solvent-free liquid silicone coating compositions which can be rapidly cross-linked in a non-stick and/or water-repellent coating for flexible supports, in particular for polymer films, for example made of polyester of the PET type, the cross-linked coating obtained having:
Another essential objective of the invention is to propose solvent-free novel liquid silicone coating compositions, which are cross-linkable in a non-stick and/or water-repellent coating for flexible supports, in particular for polymer films, for example made of polyester of the PET type, this cross-linking taking place rapidly at low temperature, instantaneously, these compositions being moreover endowed with long service lives in the bath, at ambient temperature.
Another essential objective of the invention is to propose novel solvent-free liquid silicone coating compositions, which are cross-linkable in a non-stick and/or water-repellent coating for flexible supports, in particular for polymer films, for example made of polyester of the PET type, these compositions having the low viscosities suitable for methods for producing non-stick coatings at high speed, including on standard equipment provided for paper supports, without giving rise to recalcitrant problems of “misting”.
Another essential objective of the invention is to propose novel liquid silicone coating compositions which are cross-linkable in a non-stick and/or water-repellent coating for flexible supports, easy to prepare and economical.
Another essential objective of the invention is to propose a novel process for producing a coating which is water-repellent and non-stick on a support, preferably a polymer film, more preferably a polymer film made of polyester (for example of PET) having the sought properties of attachment ((“rub-off”), of control of the peel force profile, with a low level of extractables) and appropriate coefficient of friction, all with a solvent-free starting composition, with a viscosity compatible with high speed coating without “misting”.
Another essential objective of the invention is to propose a novel process for increasing the attachment (i.e. the abrasion resistance) of a cross-linked/cured silicone coating which is water-repellent and non-stick, applied to a support, preferably a polymer film, more preferably a polymer film made of polyester, and obtained from a silicone composition capable of cross-linking/curing by polyaddition, while retaining or even improving the control of the peel force profile, the low level of extractables and the appropriate coefficient of friction, all with a solvent-free starting composition, with a viscosity compatible with high speed coating without “misting”.
Another essential objective of the invention is to propose a novel support, preferably a polymer film, more preferably a polymer film made of polyester (PET), having at least one non-stick, water-repellent coating, based on a silicone composition cross-linked/cured by polyaddition, and having excellent attachment properties ((“rub-off”), control of the peel force profile, hardness (% of extractables) and with an appropriate coefficient of friction, all starting with a solvent-free starting composition, with a viscosity compatible with high speed coating without “misting”.
These objectives, among others, are achieved by the present invention which relates firstly to a novel silicone composition capable of cross-linking/curing by polyaddition, to form a coating which is water-repellent and non-stick for supports preferably in the form of polymer films, characterized in that it comprises:
It is to the credit of the inventors to have judiciously selected the constituents of the alkenylated silicone component A, and in particular, of the fraction F2 of this novel silicone composition, in order to produce high-performance non-stick coatings on polymer supports, in particular of polyester, for example PET. Thanks to the invention, the coatings obtained have an excellent attachment (“rub-off), a sufficiently high peel force at high speed, good mechanical and physical properties (smoothness, transparency and good coefficient of friction).
The performances achieved by means of the invention in terms of quality of the cross-linking by polyaddition: reactivity/level of cross-linking/kinetics, are entirely useful, as evidenced by the low levels of extractables obtained, as regards the reactivity and the level of cross-linking.
It is to be noted that the properties of attachment to a support are all the more positive, as they last for long periods, for example at least two weeks, even under severe conditions, in particular of humidity and/or temperature.
These advantageous characteristics are can be exploited particularly for producing the non-stick property of polymer supports, in particular polyester, for example PET, which are useful as “liners” of self-adhesive labels (pressure-sensitive adhesive), being presented in the form of rolls or spools of films e.g. manufactured at very high speed.
This is all the more useful as these results are obtained with a silicone composition, where the rheological behaviour of the silicone composition is not affected (not too viscous), such that it is perfectly capable of being coated on any support and in particular on any flexible support and is very slightly or not at all subject to “misting” under industrial coating conditions.
Moreover, the silicone coating compositions according to the invention can advantageously be “solvent-free”. This means that they are free of solvent and, in particular, free of organic solvent. The advantages that this provides with regard to health and safety are easy to envisage.
Preferably, the composition according to the invention is characterized in that the fraction F1 of the alkenylated silicone component A represents at least 30% by weight of A, preferably at least 50%.
F1 is one of the main constituents of the composition according to the invention by weight.
In order to optimize the performances of the invention, it can be preferable for the oils A2.1 A2.2 A2.3 to be chosen such that in their simplified formulae: m/2, n and p/p′ are respectively greater than or equal to 70, preferably greater than or equal to 100.
Apart from the viscosity v2 of the oil (2.2) of F2 which is an important parameter of the invention, it is also advantageous for the viscosity, respectively v1, v3, of the oils A2.1 and A2.3 (in mPa·s at 25° C.) to be defined as follows:
All the viscosities referred to in the present statement correspond to a so-called “Newtonian” measurable quantity of dynamic viscosity at 25° C., i.e. the dynamic viscosity which is measured, in a manner known per se, at a shear speed gradient which is sufficiently low for the viscosity measured to be independent of the speed gradient.
It has appeared particularly judicious according to the invention, for the composition to have an Si—H/Si-alkenyl molar ratio, such that:
preferably 1.5≦Si—H/Si-alkenyl≦5.
According to a useful embodiment of the invention, the mass ratio Rw (% by weight) of the Si-alkenyl units to the total mass of F2 with attachment promotion activity, is defined as follows:
Advantageously:
The polyorganosiloxane (I.1) of the fraction F1 of the alkenylated silicone component can have a linear, branched or cyclic structure. Its degree of polymerization is, for example, comprised between 2 and 5 000.
Examples of siloxyl units of formula (I.1) are the vinyldimethylsiloxane unit, the vinylphenylmethylsiloxane unit and the vinylsiloxane unit.
Examples of polyorganosiloxanes (I.1) are the dimethylpolysiloxanes with dimethylvinylsilyl ends, the methylvinyldimethylpolysiloxane copolymers with trimethylsilyl ends, the methylvinyldimethylpolysiloxane copolymers with dimethylvinylsilyl ends, and the cyclic methylvinylpolysiloxanes.
The vinylated oils are commercial products conventionally utilized for preparing non-stick curable compositions (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,623,700). The oils with heavier alkenyl or alkenyloxyalkylene groups are described in particular in the patents EP-B-O 219 720 and EP-A-0 454 130.
As regards the cross-linking silicone oil B, it can for example comprise at least one polyorganosiloxane (II.2) comprising the siloxyl units of formula:
in which:
Examples of polyorganosiloxane (I.2), i.e. of cross-linking oil (B) are:
Preferably, the cross-linking silicone oil B comprises:
MαM′βDγD′δ
5≦v5≦500, preferably 10≦v5≦200, and better still 10≦v5≦100
15≦Si—H≦40, preferably 25≦Si—H≦35, and better still 25≦Si—H≦30.
According to a first variant of the preferred form (B1), α=2, β=0, δ+γ comprised between 10 and 200, preferably between 20 and 100, more preferably between 30 and 70, and better still γ=0.
According to a second variant of the preferred form of (B1):
The average linear formula of the cross-linking agent (B1) indicated above is a global formula which covers:
By way of examples of type -b- cross-linking agents (B1), there can be mentioned the mixtures of (B1) comprising M and D′ units and of POS comprising M, D and D′ units or mixtures of (B1) comprising M and D units and of POS comprising M′, D and D′ units, or mixtures of (B1) comprising M and D′ units and of POS comprising M and D units, or mixtures of (B1) comprising M′ and D′ units and of POS comprising M and D units.
The polyaddition silicone composition bases (A)(B) according to the invention may comprise only linear polyorganosiloxanes (I.1) and (I.2) such as, for example, those described in the patents: U.S. Pat. No. 3,220,972, U.S. Pat. No. 3,697,473 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,709.
The catalysts (C) are also well known. Compounds of platinum and rhodium are preferably used. It is possible, in particular, to use the complexes of platinum and of an organic product described in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,159,601, U.S. Pat. No. 3,159,602, U.S. Pat. No. 3,220,972 and the European patents EP-A-0 057 459, EP-A-0 188 978 and EP-A-0 190 530, the complexes of platinum and vinylated organosiloxanes described in the U.S. Pat. No. 3,419,593, U.S. Pat. No. 3,715,334, U.S. Pat. No. 3,377,432 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,730. The catalyst generally preferred is platinum. In this case, the quantity by weight of catalyst (II), calculated in weight of metal platinum, is generally comprised between 2 and 500 ppm, preferably between 5 and 200 ppm based on the total weight of the alkenylated silicone component (A) and of the cross-linking oil (B).
The attachment promoting additive (D) optionally present in the composition according to the invention, is preferably chosen from the epoxy-functional silanes, preferably from the group comprising:
The suitable concentrations of additive (D) are, for example, comprised between 0.5 and 5%, preferably between 1 and 3%.
According to a preferred arrangement of the invention, the composition comprises at least one cross-linking inhibitor (E) chosen from the following compounds:
R4—(R5)C(OH)—C≡CH
a formula in which,
R4 is a linear or branched alkyl radical, or a phenyl radical;
R5 is H or a linear or branched alkyl radical, or a phenyl radical;
the R4, R5 radicals and the carbon atom situated at position a of the triple bond being able optionally to form a ring;
the total number of carbon atoms contained in R4 and R5 being at least 5, preferably 9 to 20.
Said alcohols are, preferably, chosen from those having a boiling point above 250° C. There can be mentioned as examples:
The diluent (G) optionally present in the composition is advantageously chosen from the alpha olefins in particular those comprising 4 to 15 carbon atoms per molecule.
Other functional additives (H) can be incorporated in the composition. These additives can be chosen from the fillers such as for example glass microbeads, anti-“misting” agents etc.
Advantageously, the complete curable compositions ABC(D)(E)(G)(H)—the components (−) being optional—are fluid at normal temperature; their viscosity can be, for example, a viscosity v6 (in mPa·s at 25° C.) defined as follows:
100≦v6≦3,000, preferably 200≦v6≦2,000, and better still 500≦v6≦1,000.
The preparation of the silicone composition according to the invention, which can be used in particular as a coating base for producing non-stick and water-repellent coatings, this composition being of the type of that defined above, simply involves mixing the constituents ABC(D)(E)(F)(G)(H) using mixing means and methods known to a person skilled in the art.
The compositions according to the invention can be applied to flexible supports preferably formed by films of polymer plastic material selected from the polyolefins (e.g. polyethylene, polypropylene etc.) and/or from the polyesters (e.g. PET etc.) the latter being more particularly referred to. This does not however exclude other flexible supports such as papers of various types (supercalendered, layered etc.), cards, cellulose sheets, metal sheets etc.
The flexible supports made of polyester for example of the PET type coated with a non-stick silicone layer, are used as “liners” for adhesive labels.
According to another of its aspects, the invention relates to a process for producing a water-repellent and non-stick coating on a support, preferably a polymer film, more preferably a polymer film made of polyester, characterized in that it consist of applying to this support at least one layer of a silicone composition as defined above, and ensuring that this layer cross-links, preferably by activating it by heating.
These compositions can be applied using devices used on industrial paper coating machines such as a five-roll coating head, air-knife or equalizing bar systems, on flexible supports or materials, then cured by circulation in tunnel ovens heated to 70-200° C.; the time for passing through these ovens is a function of the temperature; it is generally of the order of 5 to 15 seconds at a temperature of the order of 100° C. and of the order of 1.5 to 3 seconds at a temperature of the order of 180° C.
The quantities of compositions applied are for example of the order of 0.5 to 2 g per m2 of surface to be treated, which corresponds to the application of layers of the order of 0.5 to 2 μm.
The materials or supports thus coated can subsequently be brought into contact with any pressure-sensitive adhesive rubber, acrylic or other materials. The adhesive material can then be easily peeled from said support or material.
According to the invention, for the cross-linking of the coating, the support coated with the polyaddition silicone composition is placed at a temperature preferably less than or equal to 180° C. for less than 10 seconds.
Another subject of the invention also relates to a process for increasing the attachment (i.e. abrasion resistance) of a cross-linked/cured, water-repellent and non-stick silicone coating, applied to a support, preferably a polymer film, more preferably a polymer film made of polyester, and obtained from a silicone composition capable of cross-linking/curing by polyaddition and comprising:
in which:
(H) optionally, at least one other functional additive, in particular anti-misting;
Finally, the invention relates to a support, preferably a polymer film, more preferably a polymer film made of polyester characterized in that it comprises at least one water-repellent and non-stick coating based on a silicone composition cross-linked/cured by polyaddition and comprising:
The silicone coating is produced on a Rotomec pilot coating machine at 100 m/min (3.6 seconds residence time in the ovens at 180° C.) on a polyester support film with a thickness of 36 microns (Luminor 6001) marketed by Toray.
The temperature of the silicone layer is monitored in line at approximately 140° C. using an infrared camera.
The coating is characterized after coating and cross-linking by the following tests:
Vi=vinyl
Comp1 and Comp2: examples with an alkenylated silicone component A constituted solely by the fraction F1. An insignificant gain is observed on the “Rub-off” (RO) attachment provided by an excess of cross-linking agent B in the example comp2.
Improvement of the RO, especially when the level of cross-linking agent B is high.
Ex. comp6: monoalkenylated oil A2.2.
Ex. 7: fraction F1 and monoalkenylated oil at the end of chain A2.2.
Ex. 8: fraction F1 and smaller quantity of monoalkenylated oil at the end of chain A2.2.
The higher the concentration of A2.2, the better the RO.
Good RO performance, even at a low content.
Ex. comp10: “weakly” alkenylated oil A2.3
Ex. 11: fraction F1 and “weakly” alkenylated oil A2.3
The higher the concentration of A2.3, the better the RO.
Contrary-example with non-alkenylated oil: no effect.
Ex. 13: fraction F1, long oil A2.1 and adhesion promoting additive (D).
Ex. 14: fraction F1, long oil A2.1 and adhesion promoting additive (D).
Good performance RO, even at a low level of long oil A2.1.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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0651992 | May 2006 | FR | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/EP07/55347 | 5/31/2007 | WO | 00 | 10/28/2009 |