Claims
- 1. A thermoplastic vulcanizate composition comprising:a continuous phase of at least one melt formable thermoplastic resin; and a discrete phase of a vulcanized perfluoroether elastomer.
- 2. The composition specified in claim 1 wherein the perfluoroether elastomer comprises between 10 and 80 weight percent based on the total amount of the continuous phase and the disperse phase combined.
- 3. The composition specified in claim 1 where the perfluoroether elastomer is end capped with chemically functional groups that provide sites for chemical reactions and crosslinking to form a crosslinked network.
- 4. The composition specified in claim 3 where the end capped chemical groups contain vinyl silane functionality.
- 5. The composition specified in claim 4 where the perfluoroether elastomer, containing vinyl silane containing end groups, is crosslinked with silicon-hydride containing molecules.
- 6. The composition specified in claim 5 where the reaction is catalyzed by a platinum catalyst system.
- 7. The composition specified in claim 1 wherein the thermoplastic Resin is a terpolymer of tetrafluoroethylene/vinylidene fluoride/hexafluoropropylene.
- 8. The composition specified in claim 1 wherein the thermoplastic fluorocarbon is a copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene/ethylene.
- 9. The composition specified in claim 1 wherein the thermoplastic fluorocarbon is a copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene/hexafluoropropylene.
- 10. The composition specified in claim 1 where fluoroelastomer regrind is added at levels up to 65 weight percent.
- 11. The composition specified in claim 10 where the average particle size of the regrind is less than 500 micrometers.
- 12. The composition specified in claim 10 where the regrind is composed of ground perfluoroether elastomer compounds.
- 13. A process for producing a fluorine containing thermoplastic vulcanizate composition, which comprises:melt blending at least one melt formable thermoplastic fluorocarbon resin and with a perfluoroether based elastomer to form a mixture, wherein the resin and elastomer are melt blended at a temperature higher than a melting temperature of the resin; and vulcanizing the mixture while maintaining the shear mixing forces.
- 14. The process according to claim 13 wherein at least one member selected from the group consisting of vulcanizing agents and vulcanization accelerators is added after the melt blending step and before the vulcanizing step.
- 15. Articles made from the composition of claim 1.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application identified as U.S. application Ser. No. 60/292,706, filed May 22, 2001, now abandoned.
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Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60/292706 |
May 2001 |
US |