THERMOSETTABLE CASTING COMPOSITION, MOLDING PRODUCED FROM IT, AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING THE MOLDING

Abstract

A thermosettable casting composition, with a polymeric binder and filler particles incorporated therein, where the casting composition includes at least one essential oil.

Claims

1. A thermosettable casting composition, with a polymeric binder and filler particles incorporated therein, wherein the casting composition further comprises at least one essential oil.

2. The thermosettable casting composition according to claim 1, wherein the casting composition comprises a mixture of two or more essential oils.

3. The thermosettable casting composition according to claim 1, wherein the essential oil or the two or more essential oils forming the mixture are selected from cinnamon oil, clove oil, allspice oil, thyme oil, oregano oil, rosemary oil, citronella oil, geranium oil, lemongrass oil, eucalyptus oil or peppermint oil.

4. The thermosettable casting composition according to claim 1, wherein the fraction of the essential oil or oils is in the range of 0.05-5 wt %, preferably 0.1-4 wt %, more preferably 0.3-3 wt %.

5. The thermosettable casting composition according to claim 1, wherein the fraction of the polymeric binder, based on the mass of the casting composition, is between 15-60 wt %, more particularly between 20-40 wt % and preferably between 25-35 wt %, and the fraction of the filler particles, based on the mass of the casting composition, is between 40-85%, more particularly between 60-80%, preferably between 65-75%.

6. The thermosettable casting composition according to claim 1, wherein the binder comprises at least one monomer, preferably methyl methacrylate, and at least one polymer dissolved therein, preferably polymethyl methacrylate.

7. The thermosettable casting composition according to claim 1, wherein it comprises a crosslinker, more particularly trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate.

8. The thermosettable casting composition according to claim 6, wherein the fraction of the crosslinker is at least 2 wt %, based on the fraction of the monomer of the binder, preferably at least 5 wt %, more particularly at least 10 wt %, and more preferably between 20-30 wt %.

9. The thermosettable casting composition according to claim 1, wherein the filler particles are selected from SiO2, Al2O3, TiO2, ZrO2, Fe2O3, ZnO, Cr2O5, carbon, metals or metal alloys, or mixtures thereof, the filler particles preferably having a particle size of 0.010 to 8000 μm, more preferably 0.05 to 3000 μm, and more particularly 0.1 to 1300 μm.

10. The thermosettable casting composition according to claim 1, comprising: (a) one or more monofunctional and one or more polyfunctional acrylic and/or methacrylic biomonomers of plant or animal origin, (b) one or more polymers or copolymers selected from polyacrylates, polymethacrylates, polyols, polyesters of recycled material or of plant or animal origin, (c) inorganic filler particles of natural origin, where constituents a) and b) form the polymeric binder, and where the fraction of the monofunctional and polyfunctional acrylic and methacrylic biomonomer or biomonomers is 10-40 wt %, the fraction of the polymer or polymers or copolymer or copolymers is 1-16 wt % and the fraction of the inorganic filler particles is 44-89 wt %.

11. The thermosettable casting composition according to claim 1, comprising: (a) one or more monofunctional and one or more polyfunctional acrylic and/or methacrylic biomonomers of plant or animal origin, (b) one or more polymers or copolymers selected from polyacrylates, polymethacrylates, polyols, polyesters of recycled material or of plant or animal origin, (c) inorganic filler particles of natural origin, where constituents a) and b) form the polymeric binder, and where the fraction of the monofunctional and polyfunctional acrylic and methacrylic biomonomer or biomonomers is 10-40 wt %, the fraction of the polymer or polymers or copolymer or copolymers is 1-16 wt % and the fraction of the inorganic filler particles is 44-89 wt %.

12. The thermosettable casting composition according to claim 10, wherein the weight ratio of monofunctional biomonomers to polyfunctional biomonomers is 2:1 to 80:1, preferably 4:1 to 70:1, more particularly 5:1 to 60:1.

13. The thermosettable casting composition according to claim 10, wherein the monofunctional biomonomer or biomonomers are selected from biobased acrylates or where the monofunctional monomer or monomers are selected from recycled acrylates and acrylates of plant or animal origin, specifically n-butyl acrylate, methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, tert-butyl acrylate, isobutyl acrylate, isodecyl acrylate, dihydrodicyclopentadienyl acrylate, ethyl diglycol acrylate, heptadecyl acrylate, 4-hydroxybutyl acrylate, 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate, hydroxyethylcaprolactone acrylate, polycaprolactone acrylate, hydroxypropyl acrylate, lauryl acrylate, stearyl acrylate, tert-butyl acrylate, 2(2-ethoxy)ethyl acrylate, tetrahydrofurfuryl acrylate, 2-phenoxyethyl acrylate, ethoxylated 4-phenyl acrylate, trimethylcyclohexyl acrylate, octyldecyl acrylate, tridecyl acrylate, ethoxylated 4-nonylphenol acrylate, isobornyl acrylate, cyclic trimethylolpropane formal acrylate, ethoxylated 4-lauryl acrylate, polyester acrylate, stearyl acrylate hyperbranched polyester acrylate, melamine acrylate, silicone acrylate, epoxy acrylate, and from biobased methacrylates or from recycled methacrylates and methacrylates of plant or animal origin, specifically methyl methacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, n-butyl methacrylate, isobutyl methacrylate, tert-butyl methacrylate, behenyl methacrylate, ehenylpolyethylene glycol methacrylate, cyclohexyl methacrylate, isodecyl methacrylate, 2-ethylhexyl methacrylate, lauryl methacrylate, stearyl methacrylate, stearyl polyethylene glycol methacrylate, isotridecyl methacrylate, ureidomethacrylate, tetrahydrofurfuryl methacrylate, phenoxyethyl methacrylate, 3,3,5-trimethylcyclohexanol methacrylate, isobornyl methacrylate, methoxypolyethylene glycol methacrylate, glycedyl methacrylate, hexylethyl methacrylate, glycerol formal methacrylate, lauryltetradecyl methacrylate, C17,4-methacrylate.

14. The thermosettable casting composition according to claim 10, wherein the polyfunctional biomonomer or biomonomers are selected from acrylates of plant or animal origin, specifically 1,6-hexanediol diacrylate, polyethylene glycol diacrylate, tetraethylene glycol diacrylate, tripropylene glycol diacrylate, polybutadiene diacrylate, 3-methyl-1,5-pentanediol diacrylate, ethoxylated bisphenol A diacrylate, dipropylene glycol diacrylate, ethoxylated hexanediol diacrylate, 1,10-decanediol diacrylate, ester diol diacrylate, alkoxylated diacrylate, tricyclodecanedimethanol diacrylate, propoxylated neopentyl glycol diacrylate, pentaerythritol tetraacrylate, trimethylolpropane triacrylate, di-trimethylolpropane tetraacrylate, tris (2-hydroxyethyl)isocyanurate triacrylate, di-pentaerythritol pentaacrylate, ethoxylated trimethylolpropane triacrylate, pentaerythritol triacrylate, propoxylated trimethylolpropane triacrylate, ethoxylated pentaerythritol tetraacrylate, propoxylated glyceryl triacrylate, aliphatic urethane diacrylate, aliphatic urethane hexaacrylate, aliphatic urethane triacrylate, aromatic urethane diacrylate, aromatic urethane triacrylate, aromatic urethane hexaacrylate, polyester hexaacrylate, epoxidized soybean oil diacrylate, and from the biobased polyfunctional methacrylates, specifically triethylene glycol dimethacrylate, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate, polyethylene glycol dimethacrylate, 1,4-butanediol dimethacrylate, diethylene glycol dimethacrylate, 1,6-hexanediol dimethacrylate, 1,10-decanediol dimethacrylate, 1,3-butylene glycol dimethacrylate, ethoxylated bisphenol A dimethacrylate, tricyclodecanedimethanol dimethacrylate, trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate.

15. The thermosettable casting composition according to claim 10, wherein the weight ratio of monofunctional and polyfunctional acrylates and methacrylates to the polymer or polymers or copolymer or copolymers is 90:10 to 60:40, preferably 85:15 to 70:30.

16. The thermosettable casting composition according to claim 1, wherein the filler particles are selected from SiO2, Al2O3, TiO2, ZrO2, Fe2O3, ZnO, Cr2O5, carbon, metals or metal alloys, or mixtures thereof, where the filler particles preferably have a particle size of 0.010 to 8000 μm, preferably 0.05 to 3000 μm, and more particularly 0.1 to 1300 μm.

17. The thermosettable casting composition according to claim 1, wherein it has a viscosity which permits injection into a mold.

18. A molding produced using a thermosettable casting composition according to claim 1.

19. The molding according to claim 18, wherein the molding is a kitchen sink, a shower tray, a washstand, a bathtub, a worktop or a floor, wall or ceiling panel.

20. A method for producing a molding, in which a casting composition according to claim 1 is used and is placed into a mold in which it is polymerized at a temperature elevated relative to room temperature, after which the polymerized molding is taken from the mold and cooled.

21. The method according to claim 20, where the temperature during the polymerization is between 60-140° C., preferably between 75-130° C. and more particularly 80-110° C.

22. The method according to claim 20, wherein the holding time during which the casting composition remains in the mold for polymerization is between 15-50 min, preferably 20-45 min and more particularly 25-35 min.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

[0070] In the drawing:

[0071] FIG. 1 shows E. coli testing results; and

[0072] FIGS. 2 and 3 show roughness measurements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0073] FIG. 1 shows the Escherichia coli colony after 24-hour testing of the black sinks from example 2 and the control sample. E. coli colonies were washed off with the neutralizing solution from the sample of the invention and from the control sample, and were collected in the Petri dishes. On the left-hand side is a Petri dish with the E. coli bacterial colony after the testing of the control sample. On the right-hand side is a significant reduction apparent in the bacterial colony after the testing of the sample of the invention. Only very few, isolated colonies are apparent, whereas the control sample shows a high colonization.

[0074] The improvement in the antimicrobial properties in the present invention has no consequences for the texture of the surface of the kitchen sink basin or of the sanitaryware articles.

[0075] FIGS. 2 and 3 show the roughness measurement with a Mitutoyo SJ-500 P instrument on a control sink (FIG. 2) and on a sink of the invention (FIG. 3). The measurement distance in mm is plotted along the abscissa, and the roughness in μm along the ordinate.

[0076] The surfaces of the control sink and of the sink of the invention with the LIFE CN/AB-50-2U, (1 wt %) have the roughness maximum (Rzmax) in the region of 5 to 10 μm. The maximum roughness of the control sink is Rzmax(control)=7.4 μm, while that of the sink of the invention is Rzmax(antibac)=9.3 μm. Furthermore, the addition of the essential oils has no influence on the mechanical and thermal performance of the product produced.

[0077] While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown and described in detail to illustrate the inventive principles, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise without departing from such principles.