Stabilised polypropylene

Abstract

A polypropylene composition comprises: (a) a first stabilising component consisting of 100 ppm or less based on the weight of the polypropylene of a phenolic antioxidant or a mixture of phenolic antioxidants; (b) a second stabilising component consisting of 500 to 1000 ppm based on the weight of the polypropylene of a phosphite antioxidant or a mixture of phosphite antioxidants; and optionally (c) a third stabilising component consisting of 100 ppm to 5000 ppm based on the weight of the polypropylene of a hindered amine light stabiliser or a mixture of such stabilisers. The polypropylene composition advantageously is in the form of fibres. A preferred phenolic antioxidant is 1,3,5-tris(4-tert-butyl-3-hydroxy-2,6 dimethylbenzyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-(1H, 3H, 5H)-trione (Lowinox 1790). A preferred phosphite antioxidant is tris(2,4-di-t-butylphenyl) phosphite (Alkanox 240). A preferred optional hindered amine light stabiliser is dimethyl succinate polymer with 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidine (Lowilite 62).

Description

This invention relates to stabilised polypropylene compositions, more particularly but not exclusively to stabilised polypropylene fibres.

Polypropylene (PP) fibres have a wide field of application including geo/agro textiles, curtains, diapers, medical clothing, tissues, large bags and nets.

All these applications need the PP to be stabilised in order to survive severe extrusion and spinning processes, which are usually performed at temperatures between 245° C. and 300° C. Process stabilisation is usually obtained by the addition to the PP of stabiliser mixtures of phenolic antioxidants and phosphite antioxidants. Sometimes, also, stability of the PP fibres to light is required and when this is the case, UV stabilisers are added, for example hindered amines. These UV stabilisers sometimes also are necessary for LTHA requirement.

The properties to be maintained in PP fibres are:

• • viscosity (measured as MFI—Melt Flow Index).
  • colour during processing (measured as YI—Yellowness Index).
  • colour during exposure to NO_x gases (gas fading) which are usually formed domestically by the combustion of propane and butane.

The required properties are generally provided by phenolic antioxidants, which preserve the PP from degradation during processing, in combination with phosphites which are known to enhance the effectiveness of the phenolic antioxidants by heterolytic decomposition of hydroperoxides formed into the polymer at high temperature and in the presence of air (oxygen). This enhancement of phenolic antioxidant effectiveness by phosphites is known as “synergistic effect”.

Even though phenolic antioxidants offer good process stabilisation of PP, most phenolic antioxidants exhibit the disadvantage of yellowing (YI) due to their oxidation to coloured quinones by air or NO_x gases.

Only a limited number of phenolic antioxidants offer an acceptable balance of all the required properties, such as for example Lowinox 1790—1,3,5-tris(4-tert-butyl-3-hydroxy-2,6 dimethylbenzyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-(1H,3H,5H)-trione; Irganox 1425—calcium diethylbis (CC3,5-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)-4-hydroxyphenyl) methyl) phosphonate), Anox IC-14 (1,3,5-tris (3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxybenzyl) isocyanurate) and Anox 20 Tetrakismethylene (3,5-di-t-butyl-4-hydroxyhydrocinnamate) methane.

All of these acceptable phenolic antioxidants are used at quite a high level of concentration, ranging from 500 to 1500 ppm and in combination with phosphites at ratios from 1:1 to 1:4 (phenol:phosphite).

Quite recently there has appeared on the market some “phenol free” formulations where the phenolic components have been substituted by a benzofuranone or a dialkylhydroxylamine. Even though these new systems offer some advantages over the old systems, they still show some disadvantages. For example, PP used in fibre spinning must have a low viscosity and because the PP coming out from the polymerisation reactors has a MFI between 2 and 12, it is necessary to “degrade” the PP during extrusion by breaking the long polymeric chains to shorter chains and this is achieved by introduction of special peroxides during extrusion. The PP obtained is called “controlled rheology PP” or “cracked PP”. It is only in very few cases that the necessary MFI is obtained directly from polymerisation and does not require the use of peroxides.

However, consumption of the aforementioned expensive peroxides depends on the nature and concentration of the stabilising system. It is well known that some phenolic antioxidants and some phosphites give a high level of peroxide decomposition with a clear impact on the cost of fibre manufacture and on byproduct accumulation into the polymer which worsens the organoleptic properties of the same. Unfortunately, also, benzofuianones and dialkylhydroxylamines react with peroxides, destroying a portion of them and give rise, as in the case of hydroxylamines, to coloured byproducts.

This means that none of the stabilising systems currently on the market, even though some of them are very expensive, are able to satisfy all the requirements of fibre manufacturers simultaneously. In some cases, a good MFI is accompanied by a very bad colour. In some other cases, high consumption of peroxides for “cracked PP” is obtained, or “gas fading” properties are very poor. Fibre manufacturers, therefore, are obliged to select and use different formulations with regard to the most important properties required for the final PP application, whereas their preference would be to have just one formulation valid for all applications they might want

In addition to all the above considerations, it has to be borne in mind that in some PP fibre applications, e.g. diapers and clothing, the fibres come into contact with human skin. It is well known that extractability of stabilisers from plastics depends on the chemical nature of the stabilisers and from their concentration (gradient effect). The higher the concentration of the stabiliser, the higher is the probability of stabilisers being absorbed through the skin. It follows that decreasing the overall concentration of stabilisers in the PP fibres offers a very positive impact on health and also on cost.

We have surprisingly found that particular PP stabiliser formulations with very low phenolic concentration can provide very good processing stabilisation (MFI), very low discolouration (YI) and very low gas fading, similar to or better than the performance obtained by the above mentioned “phenol free” systems and with the advantage of low interference with peroxides used in controlled rheology applications.

According to the present invention, there is provided a polypropylene composition which comprises:

• • (a) a first stabilising component consisting of 100 ppm or less based on the weight of the polypropylene of a phenolic antioxidant or a mixture of phenolic antioxidants;
  • (b) a second stabilising component consisting of 500 to 1000 ppm based on the weight of the polypropylene of a phosphite antioxidant or a mixture of phosphite antioxidants; and optionally
  • (c) a third stabilising component consisting of 100 ppm to 5000 ppm based on the weight of the polypropylene of a hindered amine light stabiliser or a mixture of such stabilisers.

Preferably, the polypropylene composition comprises 100 to 50 ppm of the phenolic antioxidant or mixture of phenolic antioxidants.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the polypropylene composition is in the form of polypropylene fibres.

The phenolic antioxidant preferably is a less hindered phenol, i.e. a phenol which has some steric hindrance, but not at the high level of steric hindrance of the more common antioxidants based on 2,6-di-t-butylphenol.

Further preferably, the hindered phenol antioxidant is selected from at least one of 1,3,5-tris (4-tert-butyl-3-hydroxy-2,6dimethylbenzyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-(1H, 3H, 5H)-trione (Lowinox 1790); 2,2′-methylenebis(6-t-butyl-4-methylphenol) (Lowinox 22 M46); 4,4′-butylidenebis (2-t-butyl-5-methylphenol) (Lowinox 44B25); 2,2′-isobutylidenebis(4,6-dimethylphenol) (Lowinox 22IB46); and 1,1,3-tris(2′-methyl-4′-hydroxy-5′-t-butylphenyl)butane (Lowinox CA22); 2,5-Di-t-amylhydroquinone (Lowinox AH25); 2,2′-Methylene-bis(4-methyl-6-(1-methyl cyclohexyl) phenol (Lowinox WSP); 4,4′-Thiobis (2-t-butyl-5-methylphenol) Lowinox TBM6; 2,2′-Thiobis (6-t-butyl-4-methyl phenol) Lowinox TBP6; and Triethylene glycol bis [3-(3-t-butyl-4-hydroxy-5-methylphenyl) propionate] (Lowinox GP45).

The phosphite antioxidant preferably is selected from at least one of tris(2,4-di-t-butylphenyl)phosphite (Alkanox 240), bis(2,4-di-t-butylphenyl)pentaerythritol diphosphite (Alkanox P-24); and tetakis (2,4-di-butylphenyl)-4,4′biphenylene diphosphonite (Alkanox 24-44), and bis (2,4-dicumylphenyl) pentaerythritol diphosphite (Doverphos S-9228).

The hindered amine light stabiliser preferably is selected from at least one of dimethyl succinate polymer with 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidine ethanol (Lowilite 62); poly((6-((1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)amino)-s-triazine-2,4diyl)(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl)imino) hexamethylene (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl)imino))) (Lowilite 94); and N^I, N^II, N^III, N^IV-tetrakis (2,4-bis(N-1,2,2,6,6-pentamethyl-4-piperidyl)-n-butylamino)-1,3,5-triazin-6-yl)-4,7-diazadecane-1,10-diamine (Chimassorb 119).

The preferred ratio of phenolic antioxidant to phosphite antioxidant in the polypropylene composition is in the range 1:10 to 1:20 by weight

The present invention is also a process for stabilising a polypropylene composition which comprises incorporating in said polypropylene composition at least one mixture comprising a component (a), a component (b) and optionally a component (c) as defined above.

From another aspect, the present invention is also the use of a stabilising formulation comprising at least one mixture of a component (a), a component (b) and optionally a component (c) as defined above for stabilising a polypropylene composition.

From yet another aspect, the present invention is also a stabilising formulation for polypropylene compositions comprising at least one mixture of a component (a), a component (b) and optionally a component (c) as defined above.

The prior art teaches that up to a certain level, the greater the concentration of phenolic antioxidant the better the MFI performance whereas the present invention teaches that very good MFI performance can be obtained at very low levels of phenolic antioxidant.

Furthermore, the prior art teaches that the optimum ratio for phenol antioxidant to phosphite antioxidant is within the range of 1:1 to 1:4 by weight The present invention however shows that a ratio of phenolic antioxidant to phosphite antioxidant of 1:10 to 1:20 by weight gives beneficial advantages from health, environment and cost aspects.

The two and three component blends of the present invention provide stabiliser packages which give unexpectedly good results in polypropylene fibre applications.

The stabiliser blends of the invention offer unique improved performance over current state of the art stabilising systems and offer similar to better processing stability, better to similar colour stability, better gas fading performance and on top of this lower interaction with peroxides in controlled rheology grades. This combination of properties is highly desired for high-end polypropylene fibre applications. FiberPlus, Lowinox, Alkanox, Anox, Lowilite and NDB are trade marks of Great Lakes Chemical Corporation.

Fiberstab, Irgastab, Irganox and Chimassorb are trade marks of Ciba Geigy.

Doverphos is a trademark of Dover Chemical Corporation.

Genox is a trade mark GE Speciality Chemicals.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described, simply by way of example.

General Description of the Preparation of the Stabiliser Blends of the Invention in Polypropylene Powder.

A) Mixing of the Additives

Mixing of the additives, which can be phenolic antioxidants, phosphite antioxidants, hindered amine antioxidants, acid scavengers, peroxides and others, with the polypropylene powder is done as described below and depends highly on the physical form of the stabilisers. The additives can be used in powder form, liquid form and in No Dust Blend (NDB) form

1. Additives in Powder Form:

50% of the polypropylene powder is weighed into a plastic bag, the powder additives are weighed separately and added to the polypropylene powder in the bag. The remaining polypropylene powder is then added and the bag is blown up with nitrogen and shaken for at least 2 minutes in different directions.

2. Additives in Liquid Form:

The peroxide used is a liquid. As described in paragraph 1 above, 50% of the polypropylene powder is weighed into a plastic bag, then a small amount of the polypropylene (which is subtracted from the total polypropylene amount) is then weighed in an aluminium pan. To this pan with polypropylene powder, the correct amount of peroxide is added via a pipette and mixed with the polypropylene powder with a spatula for about 10 minutes (or until a homogeneous powder mixture is formed). The content of the aluminium pan is then added to the polypropylene powder in the plastic bag, the remaining polypropylene powder is added and the bag is blown up with nitrogen and shaken for at least 2 minutes in different directions.

3. Additives in NDB Form:

NDB blends are a preblend of additives without polymer carrier made according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,642 and European Patent Application No 514784. Similar blends are available from alternative suppliers which are referred to as ‘one packs’.

When the additives are in this specific physical form, the NDB or ‘one-pack’ is first powderised again by means of a mortar and pestle. To mix the additives with the polypropylene powder the method as described in paragraph 1 above can be followed.

B) Processing of the Additive/Polypropylene Powder Mixture

After 2 minutes shaking of the plastic bag, the mixture is poured into the hopper of a Brabender single screw extruder (Compression ratio 3:1, LID 25, Dscrew 19 mm, screw speed 60 rpm).

When cracking of the initial melt flow is desired, the mixture is first extruded using the following settings on the Brabender single screw extruder

• • Temperature profile: 200-215-235-250° C.
  • 1 extrusion pass under nitrogen blanket

When no cracking is desired, no peroxide is added to the system but the mixture is extruded on the Brabender single screw extruder using the above mentioned settings. Strands are collected and pelletised. This first extrusion pass is referred to as the compounding pass or pass zero.

In order to evaluate the performance of different additive formulations, the compound after pass zero, is extruded on the Brabender single screw extruder using the following settings:

• • Temperature profile: 200-225-250-275° C.
  • 5 extrusion passes in open air.

After each extrusion pass the strands are caught up and pelletised. Pellets are collected after the 1^st, 3rd and 5^th extrusion pass for further measurements (colour measurements, melt flow measurements) whereas anti gas fading resistance is measured on fibers.

C) Testing of the Performance of Different Formulations

Measuring the Yellowing Index (YI) on pellets, which are collected after the 1st, 3rd and 5th extrusion pass determines the colour stability of a formulation. Yellowing index is measured according to standard ASTM E313.

Measuring the melt flow (MFI) on pellets, again collected after the 1^st, 3^rd and 5^th extrusion pass determines the processing stability of a formulation. The melt flow is measured according to standard ISO 1133.

Gas fading resistance is measured on film or fibre samples and measures the yellowing of a formulation in the presence of NOx gases. Gas fading resistance is an important property for polypropylene fibre applications. During storage the fibres are often exposed to NOx gases and given the high surface to volume ratio of polypropylene fibres especially fine denier fibres are sensitive to this discolouration phenomena Gas fading resistance is tested by measuring Delta E according to AATCC method 23.

In the following Examples, stabiliser formulations/systems are identified as follows:

FiberPlus NC is a two component formulation of the invention —[1:10] Lowinox 1790/Alkanox 240.

FiberPlus LT is a three component formulation of the invention [1:10]—Lowinox 1790/Alkanox 240+Lowilite 62.

FiberPlus LL is a three component formulation of the invention —7% Lowinox 1790+70% Alkanox 240+23% Lowilite 62.

FiberPlus HL is a three component formulation of the invention —6.5% Lowinox 1790+65% Alkanox 240+28.5% Lowilite 94.

Fiberplus BW is a three component formulation of the invention —7% Lowinox 1790+70% Alkanox 240+23% Lowilite 94.

Irganox B501W and Anox IC-14/Alkanox 240 systems are examples of state of the art phenol containing systems.

Fiberstab L112, Irgastab FS 410, Irgastab FS 210 and Genox EP/Chimassorb 944 systems are examples of state of the art “phenol free” systems.

EXAMPLE 1

Example 1 relates to formulations of the invention in Spheripol PP resin.

Mixing, processing and testing of the formulations are carried out as in the general description set forth above.

Loads are in ppm.

Extrusion is carried out at 240-275-300° C.

Table 1 below shows two and three component formulations of the invention and state of the art formulations in non-cracked polypropylene.

Table 2 below shows two and three component formulations of the invention and state of the art formulations in cracked polypropylene.

Results of testing are summarised in Tables 3 to 7 below.

TABLE 1
Non-Cracked PP
		FiberPlus	Irganox	Fiberstab	IC14/	Fiberstab
System	FiberPlus NC	LT	B501W	L112	Alk 240	410
Load level	990	1290	2000	1200	1500	1200
Formulation	A	B	C	D	E	F
CaSt - Faci S	600	600	600	600	600	600
Alk 240	900	900	1000		1000
Alk P-24
Anox 20
Anox IC14					500
Lowinox	90	90
1790
Irganox 1425WL			1000
Fiberstab				1200
L112
Fiberstab 410						1200
Lowilite 62		300

TABLE 2
Cracked PP
	Irganox	FiberPlus	FiberPlus	IC14/	FiberStab
System	B501W	NC	LT	Alk 240	410
Load level	2000	660	960	900	750
Formulation	G	H	I	L	M
CaSt - Faci S	500	500	500	500	500
Alk 240	1000	600	600	600
Alk P-24
Anox 20
Anox IC14				300
Lowinox		60	60
1790
Irganox	1000
1425WL
Fiberstab 410					750
Lowilite 62			300

TABLE 3
Repeated extrusions at 240° C.: MFI & YI
MFI and YI are the average values of several measurements.
	1st	3rd	5th
Formulation	MFI	YI	MFI	YI	MFI	YI
“Non cracked PP”
A	10.71	−2.48	11.19	−2.57	11.11	−2.06
B	10.96	−2.51	11.39	−1.86	11.23	−1.31
C	11.96	−2.17	12.53	−1.42	13.13	−0.73
D	12.21	−3.24	12.94	−1.54	13.99	−0.79
E	10.66	−2.57	11.51	−1.55	11.78	−0.19
F	11.35	−2.07	12.86	−0.77	14.32	0.24
“Cracked PP”
G	19.17	−2.63	19.96	−2.08	20.36	−1.77
H	17.75	−2.14	18.66	−1.37	20.01	−0.41
I	16.67	−1.99	17.62	−1.64	18.76	−0.63
L	16.95	−1.43	17.91	0.03	19.41	1.39
M	17.6	−1.93	19.69	−1.45	21.26	−1.04

Both in “cracked” and “non cracked” PP formulations of the invention H and I show the best MFI and comparable YI vs the “traditional” (G) and “state of the art” (L,M,) formulations.

TABLE 4
Repeated extrusions at 275° C.: MIFI & YI
MFI and YI are the average values of several measurements
	1st	3rd	5th
Formulation	MFI	YI	MFI	YI	MFI	YI
“Non cracked PP”
A	11.26	−2.18	12.29	−0.62	13.06	0.86
B	11.48	−2.24	12.31	−0.63	13.41	0.72
C	12.68	−2.71	13.87	−2.05	15.03	−0.89
D	11.75	−2.01	12.74	−1.14	13.79	−0.41
E	11.53	−2.15	12.15	−1.25	13.08	0.37
F	11.68	−1.54	13.81	−0.06	16.31	1.23
“Cracked PP”
G	20.18	−2.18	21.51	−1.29	22.76	−0.42
H	18.52	−2.08	20.22	−1.41	22.55	−0.69
I	17.73	−1.78	19.62	−1.52	21.69	−0.88
L	17.78	−1.2	19.43	0.15	21.64	1.29
M	18.21	−2.02	20.13	−1.01	22.21	0.15

Formulations of the invention H and I show the best YI and a comparable MFI vs “traditional” (G) and “state of the art” (L,M) formulations.

	TABLE 5
	Repeated extrusions at 300° C.: MFI & YI
	MFI and YI are the average values of several measurements
“Non cracked PP”
	1st	3rd	5th
Formulation	MFI	YI	MFI	YI	MFI	YI
A	12.09	−2.39	15.11	−1.88	19.87	−1.41
B	11.76	−2.18	14.53	−0.74	17.57	0.81
C	13.64	−2.76	17.17	−2.05	20.18	−1.41
D	12.82	−1.43	14.44	−0.44	16.27	0.62
E	12.54	−1.73	14.78	−0.37	17.82	0.71
F	12.02	−0.82	15.05	1.27	20.79	2.66

“Cracked PP”
	1st	3rd	5th
Formulation	MFI	YI	MFI	YI	MFI	YI
G	21.42	−1.79	24.51	−1.24	27.13	−0.38
H	19.95	−1.87	24.72	−1.34	29.92	−0.43
I	18.91	−1.66	23.33	−0.81	28.68	−0.15
L	18.91	−0.52	23.61	0.68	28.32	1.73
M	18.85	−1.44	22.23	0.19	26.61	1.75

Formulation of the invention (I) shows a good MFI at the 5th extrusion, similar to “state of the art” L but much better in YI; both H and I are better than L and M both for MFI and YI

	TABLE 6
	Colour measurement
	Equipment: Macbeth Colour Eye 3000
	Reflection ASTM E 313
	Standard:
	Light source: ID65
	Specimen: PP fibers
	Test: gasfading (as Delta E)
“Non Cracked PP”
Formulation
Time (h)	Cycles	A	B	C	D	E	F
	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	1	0.57	0.43	2.55	0.55	0.69	0.42
43	2	0.66	0.49	4.21	0.67	0.74	0.48
65.5	3	0.73	0.58	5.46	0.91	1.51	0.64
86.5	4	0.83	0.65	6.25	1.01	1.82	0.87
107.5	5	0.83	0.65	6.73	1.08	1.98	0.86
128.5	6	0.85	0.71	7.12	1.13	2.18	0.96

Formulations of the invention A and B show the best values for gasfading vs both “traditional” (C,E) and “state of the art” (D,F) formulations.

“Cracked PP”
Formulation
Time (h)	Cycles	G	H	I	L	M
	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	1	1.35	0.25	0.19	0.27	0.14
43	2	2.66	0.38	0.23	0.35	0.19
65.5	3	3.77	0.47	0.29	0.58	0.29
86.5	4	4.41	0.53	0.34	0.81	0.34
107.5	5	4.81	0.53	0.38	0.85	0.47
128.5	6	5.21	0.55	0.39	0.99	0.48

Formulations of the invention, H and I, are the best, together with formulation M which however is one of the worst for YI during extrusion (see Table 5).

TABLE 7
Peroxide Consumption
(Peroxide necessary (in ppm) to crack PP) from MFI 2.05 to MFI I8)
Formulation Ppm
G           450
H           426
I           406
L           406
M           472

Formulation M, considered to be the “state of the art” for PP fibers, shows the highest peroxide consumption.

The above results confirm that the exemplified formulations of the invention show, both in “non cracked” and “cracked” Spheripol PP, the best balance among the performances required in PP fibers when compared with both the older and newer stabilizing systems, providing in this way to the users a single formulation satisfying the requirements of all their end applications in addition to giving cost savings.

EXAMPLE 2

Example 2 relates to FiberPlus formulations of the invention in other types of PP resins.

Tables 8 and 9 below show data and test results for FiberPlus NC and the “phenol free” system Irgastab FS410 in cracked PP (EI Paso/Rexene technology, MFI 30).

	TABLE 8
	NC	FS410
	Alk 240	600
	Low 1790	60
	FS410		800
	Acid Scavenger	650	650

	TABLE 9
	Formulation	NC	FS410
	MFI
	Pass1	33.44	34.24
	Pass 5	51.27	47.39
	YI
	Pass 1	0.66	1.13
	Pass 5	4.57	3.98
	Gasfading	0.388	0.459
	DE 6 cycles
	Peroxide	375	445
	consumption

FiberPlus NC shows lower peroxides consumption, better gasfading and comparable YI when tested against the Irgastab FS 410 “phenol free” system

Table 10 below shows data of FiberPlus systems and state of the art systems in non-cracked BP/Amoco Slurry PP and Table 11 shows the results of testing these systems.

• Resin: non-cracked PP, BP/Amoco Slurry technology, MFI 12

Test: Multipass extrusion at 275° C. measuring MFI and YI on pellets.

	TABLE 10
	State of the Art System
	FiberPlus system		Genox
	LL	HL	BW	FS L 112	FS 410	EP/944	B501W
CaSt	250	250	250	250	250	250	250
Alk 240	900	900	900
Low 1790	90	90	90
LL 62	300
LL 94		600	300			600
Genox EP						600
FS 410					1200
FS L 112				1200
B501W							2000

TABLE 11
MFI
Pass	12.57	13.04	12.93	12.91	13.58	13.28	13.62
1
Pass	15.06	15.98	15.99	15.05	17.71	16.85	15.87
5
YI
Pass	−1.764	−1.857	−2.083	−1.819	−0.924	−1.297	−1.775
1
Pass	0.678	1.107	0.286	−0.101	1.293	1.087	0.967
5

The data in Table 11 shows that FiberPlus systems have similar MFI to state of the art systems. Also, each FiberPlus system is able to match the colour of its comparable state of the art system

Table 12 below shows data of FiberPlus systems and state of the art systems in cracked BP/Amoco Slurry PP and Table 13 shows the results of testings these systems.

• Resin:
  • cracked PP BP/Amoco Slurry technology, MFI 12.

cracking from 2 to 28-29 with Trigonox 101 as free-radical source.

	TABLE 12
	State of the Art Systems
	FiberPlus system		Genox
	LL	HL	BW	FS L 112	FS 410	EP/944	B501W
CaSt	250	250	250	250	250	250	250
Alk 240	600	600	600
Low 1790	60	60	60
LL 62	300
LL 94		400	300			400
Genox EP						400
FS 410					800
FS L 112				1200
B501W							2000

	TABLE 13
	Peroxide Consumption [ppm]
	640	640	640	855	710	690	655
MFI
Pass	29.99	30.38	29.75	29.1	28.89	30.82	30.57
1
Pass	36.05	35.74	34.68	32.57	36.9	36.44	33.49
5
YI
Pass	−2.070	−1.832	−2.079	−2.099	−1.769	−2.020	−1.882
1
Pass	−0.489	−0.258	−0.165	−0.579	−0.325	−0.049	0.402
5

The data in Table 13 shows that FiberPlus systems offer the following advantages against state of the art systems.

• (a) lower peroxide consumption and thus lower peroxide interaction than state of the art “phenol free” systems.
• (b) processing performance for each FiberPlus system which matches the processing performance of its comparable state of the art systems.

EXAMPLE 3

Example 3 relates to experiments (i) using a phosphite alone and (ii) using a different phosphite from that used in Examples 1 and 2.

The experiment where Alkanox 240 is replaced by Alkanox P-24 is to show that different phosphites can be used in the stabiliser formulations of the invention

The systems were tested at 1000 ppm in non-cracked PP(Spheripol technology, MFI 12) and were tested against 1000 ppm [1:2] Anox 20/Alkanox 240 as reference.

The data is summarised in Tables 14 and 15 below.

	TABLE 14
	1790/P-24	240	20/240
	CaSt	500	500	500
	Low 1790	100
	Alk 240		1000	500
	Anox 20			500
	Alk P-24	900

	TABLE 15
	1790/P-24	240	20/240
	MFI
	Pass 1	11.1	13.7	12.6
	Pass 5	12.2	21.0	16.3
	YI
	Pass 1	−1.72	−2.07	−0.58
	Pass 5	5.35	1.3	7.87

The results show that Lowinox 1790/Alkanox P-24 of the invention, compared against state of the art Alkanox 240/Anox 20, exhibits better MFI and YI. The results also show how the addition of a small quantity of Lowinox 1790 improves MFI when compared with Alkanox 240 alone.

EXAMPLE 4

Example 4 relates to experiments using different low hindered AO's with Alkanox 240 system.

The purpose of the experiments is to show that other low hindered phenols can be used in stabiliser formulations of the invention.

	TABLE 16
	CaSt	500	500	500
	Lowinox CA22		10	100
	Low 1790	90	90
	Alk 240	900	900	900

	TABLE 17
	1790/240	1790/240/CA22	CA22/240
	MFI
	Pass 1	12.51	12.32	12.95
	Pass 5	15.03	13.93	16.58
	YI
	Pass 1	3.97	4.71	4.39
	Pass 5	23.32	20.94	20.97

The results of Table 17 show in column 3 that adding Lowinox CA22 in small amounts to Alkanox 240 provides similar results as adding Lowinox 1790 to Alkanox 240 (column 1) for MFI and YI but column 2 shows that MFI is better still when a blend of Lowinox CA22/Lowinox 1790 is used in a ratio of 1:9. Two “low hindrance” phenols therefore show unexpected synergy.

EXAMPLE 5

Example 5 relates to experiments with variable amounts of HALS.

The purpose of the experiments is to check the performance of FiberPlus systems with increased HALS level against state of the art systems.

• Resin: Non-cracked PP (BP/Amoco Slurry, MFI 12)
• Tests:
  • MPE measuring MFI (ISO 1133) and YI/ASTME313) on pellets
  • Gasfading on films [AATCC method 23]

UV test on films [SAEFJ1885]

	TABLE 18
	FiberPlus NC + 250-2000 ppm LL62
	CaSt	250	250	250	250	250
	Low 1790	90	90	90	90	90
	Alk 240	900	900	900	900	900
	LL 62	250	500	1000	1500	2000
	LL 94
	Chim 119

TABLE 19
MFI
Pass 1	12.57	12.52	12.42	12.42	12.42
Pass 5	15.06	14.5	14.91	14.76	14.46
YI
Pass 1	−1.764	−2.003	−1.997	−1.790	−1.597
Pass 5	0.678	0.941	0.536	1.030	1.163
Gasfading
6 cycles
YI	2	2	2	2	2
Gray scale	5	4-5	5	5	5

	TABLE 20
	FiberPlus NC + 250-2000 ppm LL94
	CaSt	250	250	250	250	250
	Low 1790	90	90	90	90	90
	Alk 240	900	900	900	900	900
	LL 62
	LL 94	250	500	1000	1500	2000
	Chim 119

TABLE 21
MFI
Pass 1	12.73	12.89	12.97	12.92	12.81
Pass 5	14.98	15.22	15.18	15.55	15.83
YI
Pass 1	−1.771	−1.904	−1.544	−1.650	−1.363
Pass 5	0.494	0.884	1.686	−0.176	2.335
Gasfading
6 cycles
YI	2	2.1	2.1	2.1	2.2
Gray scale	4-5	5	5	4-5	4-5
UV (tensile
properties)
SAEJ 1885	22	28	45	49	NM
E50

	TABLE 22
	FiberPlus NC + 250-2000 ppm Chim 119
	CaSt	250	250	250	250	250
	Low 1790	90	90	90	90	90
	Alk 240	900	900	900	900	900
	LL 62
	LL 94
	Chim 119	250	500	1000	1500	2000

TABLE 23
MFI
Pass 1	12.58	12.78	12.86	13	12.83
Pass 5	14.54	14.88	15.77	15.69	15.71
YI
Pass 1	−1.737	−1.653	−1.550	−1.551	−1.549
Pass 5	0.828	0.774	1.345	1.733	1.902
Gasfading
6 cycles
YI	2.5	2.1	2.5	2.1	2.1
Gray Scale	4-5	5	4-5	5	5
UV (tensile
properties)
SAEJ 1885	28	32	37	81	78
E50

EXAMPLE 6

Example 6 relates to using Anox 20 and a HALS at higher concentrations.

Anox 20/Lowilite 94 synergy generated at 1000 ppm in non-cracked PP (BP/Amoco Slurry technology)

• Resin: BP/Amoco Slurry PP, non-cracked, MFI 12.

Test: Multiple pass extrusion measuring MI and YI on pellets.

	TABLE 24
	FiberPlus
	HL	BW	Anox 20
CaSt	250	250	250	250	250	250	250	250	250
Anox			1000	800	600	400	200	0	500
20
LL 94	600	300		200	400	600	800	1000
Low	90	90
1790
Alk 240	900	900							500

TABLE 25
MFI
Pass 1	13.04	12.93	15.30	17.03	17.69	18.79	21.41	26.16	13.53
Pass 5	15.98	15.99	21.66	26.89	28.71	30.85	38.75	64.34	18.10
YI
Pass 1	−1.857	−2.083	−0.762	−1.395	−1.380	−1.590	−1.664	−2.066	−2.581
Pass 5	1.107	0.286	3.150	2.001	1.335	2.016	0.686	−0.942	0.196

Observations from the results of Examples 5 and 6:

• (a) FiberPlus NC does not suffer from the increase of HALS concentration as shown in the Tables, e.g. when increasing the amount of Lowilite 62 from 250 to 2000 ppm the MFI remains good, YI increases just a little bit and gas fading remains at the same level. The same applies to other HALS, e.g. Lowilite 94 and Chimassorb 119.
• (b) The results show how good are the average performances of FiberPlus NC when compared to a “state of the art” phenol/phosphite blend, e.g. Anox 20/Alkanox 240 where the increase of HALS concentration and reduction of Anox 20 significantly worsens with insignificant improvements in YL
• (c) Increase of HALS concentration increases the tensile strength of FiberPlus NC.

Claims

1. A polypropylene composition which comprises: (a) a first stabilising component consisting of 100 ppm or less based on the weight of the polypropylene of a phenolic antioxidant or a mixture of phenolic antioxidants; (b) a second stabilising component consisting of 500 to 1000 ppm based on the weight of the polypropylene of a phosphite antioxidant or a mixture of phosphite antioxidants; and optionally (c) a third stabilising component consisting of 100 ppm to 5000 ppm based on the weight of the polypropylene of a hindered amine light stabiliser or a mixture of such stabilisers.

2. A polypropylene composition as claimed in claim 1 which comprises 100 ppm to 50 ppm phenolic antioxidant or a mixture of phenolic antioxidants.

3. A polypropylene composition as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the composition is in the form of polypropylene fibres.

4. A polypropylene composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the phenolic antioxidant is a hindered phenol antioxidant.

5. A polypropylene composition according to claim 1 wherein the phenolic antioxidant is selected from at least one of 1,3,5-tris (4-tert-butyl-3-hydroxy-2,6 dimethylbenzyl)-1,3,5-triazine-2,4,6-(1H,3H,5H)-trione; 2,2′-methylenebis(6-t-butyl-4-methyl phenol); 4,4′-butylidenebis(2-t-butyl-5-methyl phenol); 2,2′-isobutylidenebis(4,6-dimethyl phenol); 1,1,3-tris(2′-methyl-4′-hydroxy-5′-t-butyl phenyl) butane; 2,5-Di-t-amylhydroquinone; 2,2′-Methylenebis [4-methyl-6-(1-methylcyclohexyl) phenol; 4,4′-Thiobis (2-t-butyl-5-methylphenol); 2,2′-Thiobis (6-t-butyl-4-methylphenol) and Triethylene glycol bis (3-(3-t-butyl-4-hydroxy-5-methylphenyl) propionate.

6. A polypropylene composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the phosphite antioxidant is selected from at least one of tris(2,4-di-t-butylphenyl)phosphite, bis(2,4-di-t-butylphenyl)pentaerythritol diphosphite; and tetrakis (2,4-di-butylphenyl)-4,4′biphenylene diphosphonite and bis(2,4-dicumylphenyl) pentaerythritol diphosphite.

7. A polypropylene composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the hindered amine light stabiliser is selected from at least one of dimethyl succinate polymer with 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidine ethanol; poly((6-((1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)amino)-s-triazine-2,4diyl)(2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl) imino) hexamethylene (2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-piperidyl)imino))); and NI, NII, NIII, NIV-tetrakis (2,4-bis(N-1,2,2,6,6-pentamethyl-4-piperidyl)-n-butylamino)-1,3,5-triazin-6-yl)-4,7-diazadecane-1,10-diamine.

8. A polypropylene composition according to any claim 1 wherein the ratio of phenolic antioxidant to the phosphite antioxidant is in the range of 1:10 to 1:20 by weight.

9. A process for stabilising a polypropylene composition which comprises incorporating in the polyolefin composition at least one mixture comprising a component (a), a component (b) and optionally a component (c) all according to claim 1.

10. The use of a formulation comprising at least one mixture of a component (a), a component (b) and optionally a component (c) all according to claim 1 for stabilising a polypropylene composition.

11. A stabilising formulation for polypropylene compositions comprising at least one mixture of a component (a), a component (b) and optionally a component (c) all according to claim 1.