THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITE MATERIAL

Abstract

The present invention relates to a thermoplastic composite material comprising an organic fibrous material and a thermoplastic binding agent, wherein the thermoplastic binding agent is selected from a polymer from the group comprising styrene-acrylate. Furthermore, the invention relates to a method for producing a thermoplastic composite material and to the use of the thermoplastic composite material.

Claims

1. Thermoplastic composite material containing a) at least one organic fibrous material or a mixture of two or more organic fibrous materials, wherein the organic fibrous material or the mixture of two or more organic fibrous materials preferably comprises a fraction of at least 40 wt. %, particularly preferably of at least 50 wt. %, in particular of at least 60 wt. % and/or of at most 80 wt. %, in particular of at most 70 wt. %, in the thermoplastic composite material and b) at least one thermoplastic binding agent, wherein the thermoplastic binding agent is selected from a copolymer from the group comprising or consisting of one of styrene-acrylate, and wherein the thermoplastic binding agent preferably comprises a fraction of at least 15 wt. %, in particular of at least 20 wt. % and/or of at least 50 wt. %, in particular of at most 40 wt. %, in the thermoplastic composite material.

2. Composite material according to claim 1, wherein the copolymer comprises a fraction of acrylate of at least 60 wt. % and/or wherein the copolymer comprises a fraction of styrene of at most 40 wt. %.

3. Composite material according to claim 1, wherein the styrene-acrylate copolymer has a molecular mass of at least 5 000 Da, preferably of at least 7 500 Da, in particular of at least 10 000 Da and/or of at least 500 000 Da, preferably of at most 100 000 Da, particularly preferably of at most 50 000 Da, in particular of at most 30 000 Da.

4. Composite material according to claim 1, wherein the composite material comprises at least one material which is selected from a natural and/or synthetic latex, preferably from a natural latex.

5. Composite material according to claim 1, wherein the total fraction of the binding agent and of the natural and/or synthetic latex in the composite material is at least 30 wt. % and/or at most 60 wt. %, in particular at least 30 wt. % and/or at most 50 wt. %.

6. Composite material according to claim 1, characterized in that the styrene-acrylate copolymer contains at least one polymer which has a minimum film-forming temperature (MFT) of at most 1° C., preferably of at most 0° C.

7. Composite material according to claim 1, characterized in that the composite material has a thermal deformation temperature of about 50° C. and/or of at most 80° C., preferably of about 65° C., in particular of about 50° C.

8. Composite material according to claim 1, characterized in that the composite material contains up to 20 wt. % of one or more components selected from the group consisting of inorganic salts, preservatives, colourants, natural and/or synthetic fats, paraffins, natural and/or synthetic oils, silicone oils, ionic and/or non-ionic tensides.

9. Composite material according to claim 1, characterized in that the organic fibrous material comprises plastic fibres, plant fibres and/or animal fibres, preferably leather fibres.

10. Composite material according to claim 1, wherein the organic fibrous material comprises leather fibres, preferably leather fibres of prepared leather.

11. Composite material according to claim 1, characterized in that the material is provided with a thermally activatable adhesive, preferably with a hot-melt adhesive.

12. Method for producing a thermoplastic composite material comprising the steps: i) preparing an organic fibrous material or a mixture of two or more organic fibrous materials, ii) adding a copolymer to the constituent/s from step i) and subsequently mixing to obtain a dispersion, wherein the copolymer comprises at least one acrylate and at least one styrene, iii) optionally adding an aqueous solution of an aluminium and/or a copper salt to the dispersion from step ii), iv) optionally dewatering the mixture from step iii) v) optionally drying the mixture from step iv).

13. Thermoplastic composite material, wherein the thermoplastic composite material can be obtained using a method according to claim 12.

14. A method using a thermoplastic composite material according to claim 1 for profile cladding of wall, floor and ceiling panels, for surface coating of furniture fronts with or without inner radii, for edge banding, in particular for surface coating of parts in interiors of motor-driven vehicles.

15. A method of using a thermoplastic composite material produced according to claim 12 for profile cladding of wall, floor and ceiling panels, for surface coating of furniture fronts with or without inner radii, for edge banding, in particular for surface coating of parts in interiors of motor-driven vehicles.

16. A method of using a thermoplastic composite material able to be produced according to claim 13 for profile cladding of wall, floor and ceiling panels, for surface coating of furniture fronts with or without inner radii, for edge banding, in particular for surface coating of parts in interiors of motor-driven vehicles.

Description

EXAMPLE

Example 1

[0064] Production of the Thermoplastic Composite Material According to the Invention:

[0065] In order to produce the thermoplastic composite material according to the invention, firstly, leather in the dry state is comminuted into 5-10 mm.sup.2 pieces using a fine cutting mill (Netzsch Feinmahltechnik, Selb, Germany) in 5-10 mm.sup.2. Both prepared and non-prepared leather can be used as leather starting material. The comminuted leather is mixed with water (2-5 wt. % leather and 95-98 wt. % water) and ground within 2-10 hours using an Asplund disk refiner (Valmet, Darmstadt, Germany) to obtain a knot-free fibre pulp.

[0066] The fibre pulp thus obtained (water fraction 97-99 wt. %) is mixed in batches (400-700 kg fibres per batch) with 40 wt. % styrene-acrylate copolymer (percentage calculated for the dry fibres, Acronal 2412, BASF, Ludwigshafen, Germany; pH 6 to 8, MFT<1° C., dynamic viscosity: 90-200 mPa.Math.s (23° C., 250 1/s; DIN EN ISO 3219), solid fraction: 56.0-58.0% (DIN EN ISO 3251), particle size range: <0.1 μm-10 μm) and subsequently coagulated with an aluminium sulphate solution (7-10%), and agitated for about one hour. The fibre pulp is then dewatered on a Fourdrinier dewatering machine (made by Corsini), dried whilst supplying warm air in a drying channel (made by Dornier), calendered in a rolling mill (e. g. Aletti (Varese)), polished and further refined. The refinement can be accomplished, for example, by embossing on the surface and preparation with dye.

[0067] The composite material according to the invention has a deformation temperature in the range from 50 to 65° C.

[0068] It is finally pointed out once again that the devices described in detail hereinbefore merely comprise exemplary embodiments which can be modified by the person skilled in the art in various ways without departing from the range of the invention. Furthermore, the use of the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude the fact that the relevant features can also be present in multiples. Also, the terms “constituent” or “component” do not exclude the fact that these can also consist of several interacting partial components.