Shell Oil Comapny

Kraton Polymers U.S. LLC

Esther M Zimmermann

James R Erickson

Michael A Masse

Steven H Dillman

Dale Lee Handlin, Jr

This invention is a process for making UV curable adhesives, sealants, coatings, ink, flexible printing plates, laminating adhesives, fibers, gaskets, and related compositions, films, and thin parts, wherein an epoxidized monohydroxylated polydiene polymer comprised of at least two different diene monomers wherein at least one is a diene monomer which yields unsaturation suitable for epoxidation is used as the binder for the composition. The preferred epoxidized monohydroxylated polymers are block copolymers of isoprene and butadiene wherein a hydroxyl group is attached at one end of the polymer molecule. These polymers may be hydrogenated or unhydrogenated. The process involves mixing the above polymer or the polymer with one or more other formulating ingredients together with and insoluble photoinitiator which is preferably selected from the group consisting of triaryl sulfonium salts. The mixture is then subjected to mixing conditions in a high speed mixer, preferably a high speed disk disperser, at a blade tip speed of from 200 to 2000 cm/sec at a temperature from 25 to 130&#xb0; C., preferably from 40 to 100&#xb0; C. This process is highly suited for making stable cationic photoinitiator concentrations that can be added to adhesive, coating, or sealant formulations to effect rapid UV cure.

Non-aqueous solvent-free process for making UV curable adhesive and sealants from expodized monohydroxylated diene polymers

The invention is a radiation curable printing ink composition comprising a liquid viscous epoxidized diene polymer and a pigment. Preferred diene polymers are block copolymers comprising at least interior and exterior diene blocks wherein the exterior diene blocks contain a greater concentration of di-, tri-, and tetrasubstituted olefinic epoxides than the interior blocks and wherein the copolymer contains from 0.1 to 3.0 Meq of olefinic epoxides per gram of copolymer and the peak molecular weights as determined by gel permeation chromatography of the exterior blocks of from 300 to 2000 and the peak molecular weights as determined by gel permeation chromatography of the interior blocks are from 2,000 to 10,000. In another preferred embodiment, the polymer is a star polymer having a random distribution of from 0.5 to 5 Meq of di-, tri-, and tetrasubstituted olefinic epoxides per gram of polymer and greater than four arms wherein the peak molecular weights as determined by gel permeation chromatography of the arms are from 1500 to 15,000.

Radiation curable printing ink composition

This invention provides a reactive conjugated diene polymer composition that forms a phase-separated adhesive, sealant, or coating. The composition comprises an epoxidized polymer of conjugated dienes, a second reactive component which is phase separated from the polymerized conjugated diene upon cure, and optionally a tackifying resin. The invention also encompasses adhesive, coating and sealant compositions made with the above composition.

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Houston, TX, United States of America

Esther M Zimmermann