Rehau Ag + Co.

Herbert Klein

Rolf Mulhaupt

Siegfried Hopperdietzel

Ekkehard Weinberg

Joachim Rosch

A polymer mixture reinforced by an in situ, melt-polymerized microphase whereby the rigidity of the base material is increased, a process for manufacturing same, and use thereof for providing reinforced compositions and articles in which the polymer mixture is prepared by polymerizing a component B in a melt of a component A composed of at least one thermoplastic polymer. Component B is composed of at least one compound having the structure ##STR1## The reaction of component B in a melt of component A results in linear, branched or cross-linked, high or low molecular weight polymers constituting a microphase. Preferably, the microphases have the form of microfibers. In the structure of component B, X is NH.sub.2, NHR.sup.3, OH or an N-substituted, Y-activated lactam of the ##STR2## type which is activated with an electrophilic substituent Y, where Y is CO, SO.sub.2, or R.sup.5 P.dbd.O; R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.4 are bivalent or multivalent aliphatic-, aromatic-, heterocyclic- or heteroatom-containing segments, with R.sup.2 and R.sub.4 preferably being bivalent aliphatic or aromatic radicals (CH.sub.2).sub.z in which 1&lt;z&lt;15; R.sup.3 and R.sup.5 are aliphatic, cycloaliphatic or aromatic radicals; and n and m are integers for which 1&lt;m and n&lt;5, and preferably m=n=1.

In situ polymer alloys and microcompounds, process for their

A polymer mixture reinforced by an in situ, melt-polymerized microphase whereby the rigidity of the base material is increased, a process for manufacturing same, and use thereof for providing reinforced compositions and articles in which the polymer mixture is prepared by polymerizing a component B in a melt of a component A composed of at least one thermoplastic polymer. Component B is composed of at least one compound having the structure ##STR1## The reaction of component B in a melt of component A results in linear, branched or cross-linked, high or low molecular weight polymers constituting a microphase. Preferably, the microphases have the form of microfibers. In the structure of component B, X is NH.sub.2, NHR.sup.3, OH or an N-substituted, Y-activated lactam of the ##STR2## type which is activated with an electrophilic substituent Y, where Y is CO, SO.sub.2, or R.sup.5 P=O; R.sup.1, R.sup.2 and R.sup.4 are bivalent or multivalent aliphatic-, aromatic-, heterocyclic- or heteroatom-containing segments, with R.sup.2 and R.sup.4 preferably being bivalent aliphatic or aromatic radicals (CH.sub.2).sub.z in which 1&lt;z&lt;15; R.sup.3 and R.sup.5 are aliphatic, cycloaliphatic or aromatic radicals; and n and m are integers for which 1&lt;m and n&lt;5, and preferably m=n=1.

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Hof/Saale, Germany

Herbert Klein