The Dow Chemical Company

John O Bieser

Edward N Knickerbocker

Stephen P Krupp

Johan A Thoen

Yunwa Wilson Cheung

Martin J Guest

John J Gathers

Shih-Yaw Lai

Gerald M Lancaster

Stephen R Betso

David C Kelley

Malcolm F Finlayson

Ricky L Tabor

Robert R Turley

Zdravko P Jezic

James R Bethea

Lawrence T Kale

Edwin R Feig

Jose V Saavedra

William R Van Volkenburgh

Jerker B I Kjellqvist

Gene P Young

Ronald Wevers

Lionel H Dagenais

A floor, wall or ceiling covering which comprises one or more substantially random interpolymers prepared by polymerizing one or more &agr;-olefin monomers with one or more vinylidene aromatic monomers and/or one or more hindered aliphatic or cycloaliphatic vinylidene monomers, and optionally with other polymerizable ethylenically unsaturated monomer(s). The floor, wall or ceiling covering has a good balance of properties, such as sufficient flexibility and conformability to uneven or contoured surfaces for efficient application to floors, walls, or ceilings, sufficient scratch resistance, sufficient indentation resistance, indentation recovery and/or sufficient abrasion resistance.

Floor, wall or ceiling covering

The subject invention is directed to a polyethylene composition comprising from about 5 to about 70 weight percent of a homogeneous ethylene/&agr;-olefin interpolymer, from about 30 to about 95 weight percent of at least one filler, and from about 0.1 weight percent to less than about 10 weight percent of at least one functionalized polyethylene. The polyethylene compositions of the present invention exhibit high tensile strength, high indentation resistance and filler holding capacity, and are especially useful for floor tile and sheeting applications.

Filled polyethylene compositions

A filled polymer composition which comprises

Filled polymer compositions

A filled polymer composition which comprises (A) from about 5 to about 90 percent of one or more thermoplastic substantially random interpolymers prepared by polymerizing one or more .alpha.-olefin monomers with one or more vinylidene aromatic monomers and/or one or more hindered aliphatic or cycloaliphatic vinylidene monomers, and optionally with other polymerizable ethylenically unsaturated monomer(s), and (B) from about 10 to about 95 percent of one or more inorganic fillers, the amounts of (A) and (B) being based on the total weight of (A) and (B). Fabricated articles made from the filled polymer compositions are useful as sound insulating or energy absorbing films or sheets or as floor, wall or ceiling coverings.

This invention relates to compositions comprising ethylene interplymers, such as a linear or substantially linear ethylene interpolymer and polydimethylsiloxane. The compositions have good abrasion resistance without sacrificing coefficient of friction.

Polydimethylsiloxane containing polymer blends

A method is disclosed for making thermoplastic bicomponent fibers by contacting under thermally bonding conditions (a) a first component being at least one high performance thermoplastic polymer, such as PET, PBT, nylon or the like, and (b) a second component which is olefinic and which forms at least a portion of the fiber's surface characterized by (b) including at least one grafted olefinic polymer, preferably at least one grafted linear ethylene polymer, having pendant succinic acid or succinic anhydride groups; whereby the fiber is dyeable. The bicomponent fibers made by this process can be in a variety of shapes (e.g., round, oval, trilobal, flat, or hollow) and configurations (e.g., symmetrical sheath/core or side-by-side or asymmetrical crescent/moon). The succinic acid or succinic anhydride groups are provided by grafting, respectively, maleic acid or maleic anhydride onto the linear ethylene polymers especially by a process wherein the grafting is done in a twin-screw, co-rotating extruder with the maleic acid or maleic anhydride being injected into a pressured zone of the extruder. The acid containing grafted linear ethylene polymer or polymer blends are dyeable in contradistinction to ungrafted linear ethylene polymers.

Method for making bicomponent fibers

An improved method of melt spinning linear polyethylene into fiber, especially fine denier fiber, with minimal fiber breakage is disclosed. The method includes imparting high shear into the polyethylene just prior to extrusion through the spinneret die and also results in lower die swell. The high shear can be imparted by use of sintered metal filter media, multiple stacks of fine mesh screens or similar shear inducing media. The method is especially effective when the linear polyethylene contains a relatively high molecular weight species, as determined using gel permeation chromatography with a low angle laser light scattering detector.

Method of improving melt spinning of linear ethylene polymers

Polymer blends of at least one ethylene interpolymer product and at least one linear polyethylene are disclosed. The blends have a shear rate at the point of onset of melt fracture at least about 2 percent higher than that obtained for the linear polyethylene alone. The polymer blends are particularly useful for forming films and tapes wherein the melt fracture of the polymer blend is substantially reduced or eliminated, thereby improving extrudability and fabricated article appearance.

Reduction of melt fracture in linear polyethylene

Blends of high molecular weight linear polyethylene and low molecular weight linear polyethylene provide improved staple fiber-forming capabilities over that found with either polymer taken alone. Preferably at least one of the polymers used in the blend is a linear low density polyethylene, LLDPE, which is a linear polyethylene comprising ethylene copolymerized with an amount of a higher alpha-olefin which causes the density of the copolymer to be less than that of a homopolymer made using the same process and catalyst. The higher alpha-olefin can be at least one in the C.sub.3 -C.sub.12 range, preferably in the C.sub.3 -C.sub.8 range.

Linear ethylene polymer staple fibers

Blends of high molecular weight linear polyethylene and low molecular weight linear polyethylene provide improved fiber-forming capabilities over that found with either polymer taken alone. Preferably at least one of the polymers used in the blend is a linear low density polyethylene, LLDPE, which is a linear polyethylene comprising ethylene copolymerized with an amount of a higher alpha-olefin which causes the density of the copolymer to be less than that of a homopolymer made using the same process and catalyst. The higher alpha-olefin can be at least one in the C.sub.3 -C.sub.12 range, preferably in the C.sub.4 -C.sub.8 range.

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Houston, TX, United States of America

John O Bieser