IMPACT MODIFIED LDS COMPOSITION

Abstract

The present invention thermoplastic polymer composition, an article prepared form the thermoplastic polymer composition, and article made by a LDS process and a process for preparing the same, wherein the thermoplastic polymer 5 composition N comprises a thermoplastic polymer comprising a thermoplastic polyamide or a thermoplastic polyester, a Laser Direct Structuring (LDS) additive, an impact modifier, optionally a reinforcing agent, and a halogen free flame retardant comprising a melamine condensation product, a salt of a polyphosphate and melamine or a melamine condensation product, or a salt of an organic phosphinic acid or diphosphinic 10 acid and a metal, melamine or a melamine condensation product, or any mixture thereof.

Claims

1. Thermoplastic polymer composition comprising A. a thermoplastic resin; B. an impact modifier; and C. a laser direct structuring (LDS) additive; wherein the thermoplastic resin (A) comprises a thermoplastic polyamide or a thermoplastic polyester, and wherein the thermoplastic polymer composition further comprises D. a halogen free flame retardant comprising a melamine condensation product, a salt of a polyphosphate and melamine or a melamine condensation product, or a salt of an organic phosphinic acid or diphosphinic acid and a metal, melamine or a melamine condensation product, or any mixture thereof.

2. Polymer composition according to claim 1, wherein the polyamide comprises an aliphatic polyamide or a semi-aromatic polyamide, or a mixture thereof.

3. Polymer composition according to claim 1, wherein the impact modifier (B) is a polyolefine based polymer, a polyacrylic based polymer, a silicon based polymer or a polystyrene based polymer, or any copolymer thereof, and/or any blend thereof.

4. Polymer composition according to claim 1, wherein the halogen free flame retardant (D) comprises a salt of an organic phosphinic acid or diphosphinic acid, or a mixture thereof.

5. (canceled)

6. Polymer composition according to claim 1, wherein the composition comprises: (A) 30-80 wt. % of thermoplastic resin; (B) 2.5-25 wt. % impact modifier; (C) 1-10 wt. % of LDS additive; (D) 1-15 wt. % of halogen free flame retardant; and (E) 0-60 wt. % of reinforcing agent; wherein the sum of (A), (B), (C), (D) and (E) is at most 100 wt. %, and wherein the weight percentages (wt. %) are relative to the total weight of the composition.

7. Polymer composition according to claim 1, wherein the composition comprises one or more further components (F) in an amount of 0.5-15 wt. %, relative to the total weight of the composition.

8. Molded article, made from a thermoplastic composition according to claim 1, wherein the thermoplastic composition is capable of being plated after being activated using a laser.

9. Molded article, made from a thermoplastic composition according to claim 1, wherein the molded article comprises an activated pattern on the molded article, obtained by laser treatment and capable of being plated to form a conductive path after being activated by the laser treatment.

10. Molded article, made from a thermoplastic composition according to claim 1, wherein the molded article comprises a plated metal pattern thereon forming a conductive path obtained by metal plating after activating by laser treatment.

11. Article of manufacture comprising a molded article according to claim 10 comprising a plated metal pattern forming a conductive path thereon.

12. Article according to claim 11, being an article selected from the group consisting of RF antennas, sensors, connectors and housings for electronic devices, for example housings and frames for notebooks, mobile phones and PC tablets.

13. Process for producing a molded article made from a thermoplastic composition and comprising a plated metal pattern thereon forming a conductive path, the process comprising the steps of: molding a thermoplastic composition according to claim 1, thereby obtaining a molded article; treating the molded art by laser treatment, thereby obtaining an activated pattern on the molded article; treating the molded article comprising the activated pattern thereon by an electroless metal plating process, thereby obtaining a molded article comprising a plated metal pattern thereon.

14. Polymer composition according to claim 1, wherein the composition further comprises a reinforcing agent (E).

15. Polymer composition according to claim 14, wherein the reinforcing agent (E) comprises an inorganic fibrous reinforcing agent or an inorganic filler, or a combination thereof.

Description

EXAMPLES

[0111] The compositions of Example I and Comparative Example A were prepared by melt-blending with the constituting components on a Werner & Pfleiderer ZE-25 twin screw extruder using a standard temperature profile. The constituents were fed via a hopper, glass fibers were added via a side feed. Throughput was 20 kg/h and screw speed was 200 rpm. The polymer melt was degassed at the end of the extruder. The melt was extruded into strands, cooled and chopped into granules.

Injection Molding of Test Bars

[0112] Dried granulate material was injection molded in a mold to form test bars with a thickness of 4 mm conforming ISO 527 type 1A for tensile testing, ISO 179/1eU for unnotched Charpy testing, ISO 179/1eA for notched Charpy testing and ISO 75 for HDT testing. The test bars were used to measure the mechanical properties of the compositions. All tests were carried out on test bars dry as made. The compositions and main test results have been collected in Table 1.

LDS Performance

[0113] The LDS behavior was tested with a 20 W laser, applying different power levels ranging from 40% to 90% of the maximum laser power (max 20 W) and different pulsing frequencies (60 kHz, 80 kHz and 100 kHz), with a laser spot size of 40 m diameter. Plating was done with a standard Ethone Plating bath with Cu only with a plating time of 10 minutes. Representative results are given in Table 1.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Compositions and test results for compositions of Comparative Experiment A (without LDS additive) and Comparative Experiment B (with LDS additive) Experiment/Composition (wt. %) CE-A EX-I PET 67 66 LDS additive 7 7 Glass Fibers 15 15 Impact modifier 10 10 Flame retardant 5 Additive package 1 1 Tensile Properties (Dry as molded) Tensile Modulus (MPa) 2800 3100 Tensile Strength (MPa) 75 72 Elongation at Break (%) 3 3.1 Impact properties Charpy notched (kJ/m.sup.2) 3.6 3.5 Charpy unnotched (kJ/m.sup.2) 32 30 Plating at 80 kHz and power level (%) 50 45 51 60 39 49 70 32 52 80 9 47

[0114] Table 1 shows moderate mechanical properties despite the presence of impact modifier, indicative for the negative effect of the LDS additive, as well as very poor LDS properties, illustrative for the negative impact of impact modifier on these properties. The presence of flame retardant has some effect on the mechanical properties, so these are pretty well retained upon addition of the flame retardant, while at the same time, the addition has resulted in a strong improvement in the LDS properties.