Candle wax comprising a polymer and method for making candle wax

Abstract

This invention pertains to candle wax and a method for making candle wax. The candle wax comprises a candle wax base mixture and a polymer wherein the polymer comprises units of the formula (I) wherein X is an alkyl, alkenyl, alkyl maleic anhydride or alkylene-imine; Y is selected from the group consisting of O, S, NH, NCH.sub.2, NCH.sub.2CH.sub.2, COO of which either the carbon or the oxygen group is bound to X, C(O)NH, trialkoxysilane, preferably trimethoxysilane or triethoxysilane, benzyl, amide group; Z is H or a C.sub.1-C.sub.40 alkyl group or a C.sub.1-C.sub.40 alkenyl group; n is a positive integer, preferably is n>3; if Y is COO, then the polymer is a copolymer comprising at least two different units, and if Z is H or a methyl or ethyl, than the polymer is a copolymer comprising at least one unit comprising a C.sub.3-C.sub.40 alkyl group or C.sub.3-C.sub.40 alkenyl group.

Claims

1. A candle wax, the candle wax comprising: a mixture of a candle wax base and a polymer, wherein the polymer comprises units having formula (I): ##STR00010## wherein: X is an alkyl or alkylene-imine; Y is C(O)NH, or O for the case that the X is alkyl, or (CO) for the case that the X is alkyl imine; Z is an unbranched C.sub.10 to C.sub.40 alkyl group; and n is a positive integer; wherein the polymer is a random copolymer with first units and second units, wherein the first units comprise a group Z different from the second unit.

2. The candle wax as claimed in claim 1, wherein Z in the first unit comprises a palmityl group (C16) and Z in the second unit comprises a stearyl group (C18).

3. The candle wax as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first unit is present in an amount of 50-95% by weight and the second unit is present in an amount of 5-50% by weight.

4. The candle wax according to claim 1, wherein X is produced from a monomer chosen from the group consisting of ethylene, 1-propylene, 2-propylene, 1-methyl-2-propylene, 2-methyl-2-propylene, 1-methyl-2-propylene, 1-butylene, 2-butylene, 3-butylene.

5. The candle wax according to claim 1, wherein Y is O.

6. The candle wax according to claim 5, wherein YZ comprises a C.sub.14-C.sub.22 alkyl ether.

7. The candle wax according to claim 6, wherein the polymer comprises a structure according to the formula (IV): ##STR00011## wherein Z1 is a C16 unbranched n-hexadecyl group and Z2 is a C18 unbranched n-octadecyl group, and wherein in and o are positive integers and the sum of in and o is greater than 3.

8. The candle wax according to claim 1, wherein Y is C(O)NH.

9. The candle wax according to claim 1, wherein the polymer further comprises vinyl trialkoxysilane groups.

10. The candle wax according to claim 1, wherein the polymer is a random copolymer with a structure according to formula (IIa), having a first unit (A) and a second unit (B) ##STR00012## wherein: Z and Z.sub.3 are chosen from the group of unbranched C.sub.14, C.sub.16, C.sub.18, C.sub.20 and C.sub.22 alkyl groups; and n and p are positive integers and the sum of n and p is greater than 3.

11. A candle comprising a candle wax according to claim 1.

12. The candle wax according to claim 1, wherein the candle wax base comprises fatty acids in an amount of more than 90%.

13. The candle wax according to claim 1, wherein n is greater than 3.

14. The candle wax according to claim 1, wherein the polymer comprises monomeric units described by the formula: ##STR00013##

15. The candle wax according to claim 1, wherein the polymer comprises monomeric units described by the formula: ##STR00014##

Description

DESCRIPTION OF FIGURE

(1) FIG. 1A shows a tealight made from a base derived from palm fatty acid, and FIG. 1B shows a tealight made of a mixture of fatty acid derived from palm base mixed with 150 ppm of polymer having the formula (III).

EXAMPLES

Example 1

Preparation of polyethenyl-hexadecylether/polyethenyl-octadecylether

(2) The random copolymer polyethenyl-hexadecylether/polyethenyl-octadecylether was prepared via a free radical polymerization reaction of vinyl ethers:

(3) ##STR00006##
wherein Z.sub.1 is an unbranched C16 alkyl, or is palmityl or hexadecyl, and Z.sub.2 is an unbranched C18 alkyl, or is stearyl or octadecyl, and m and o are a positive integer, whose sum is greater than 3.

(4) To obtain a yield of polymers with a high average molecular weight, the polymerization of the long chain alkyl vinyl ethers was performed under acidic conditions. The appropriate acid or photo acid was mixed with monomers and the reaction was followed with (FT)IR spectroscopy until the vinylic double bonds almost completely disappeared from the IR absorption spectra. By adjusting the reactant ratios, the molecular weight and the composition can be tuned.

(5) A skilled person will understand that such polymerization can be carried out in various ways.

Example 2

Preparation of poly(vinyl alkyl ether-maleic anhydride copolymer) and poly(vinyl alkyl ether-(di)alkyl maleate copolymer)

(6) In a typical radical polymerization reaction of maleic anhydride with long chain vinyl ethers, the components are dissolved in an inert solvent (up to 60%) under inert atmosphere and cured by a thermal or a photochemical initiator until the typical double bond IR absorption bands almost completely disappeared from the IR absorption spectra of the reaction mixture. By adjusting the amount of initiator, the molecular weights of the polymers can be tuned. This then provides a poly(vinyl alkyl ether-maleic anhydride copolymer).

(7) To prepare poly(vinyl alkyl ether-(di)alkyl maleate copolymer), or poly(vinyl alkyl ether-(di)alkyl maleamide copolymer), the poly(vinyl alkyl ether-maleic anhydride copolymer) polymer as obtained above, is than reacted with long chain aliphatic alcohols or amines to yield the desired products (conventional synthetic protocols for the formation of esters and amides are used). The reaction are followed by (FT)IR spectroscopy (disappearance of the acid and anhydride absorption bands and formation of ester and amide bands). The reactions are shown below.

(8) ##STR00007##

Example 3

Preparation of poly(alkyl acrylamide) and copolymer poly(vinyl alkyl ether-alkyl acrylamide)

(9) In a typical radical polymerization reaction of acrylamides with or without long chain vinyl ethers, the components are dissolved in an inert solvent (up to 60%) and cured by a thermal or a photochemical initiator until the typical double bond IR absorption bands almost completely disappeared from the IR absorption spectra of the reaction mixture. By adjusting the amount of initiator the molecular weights of the resulting polymers can be tuned.

(10) ##STR00008##

Example 4

Preparation of poly(alkyl acrlyamide) via polycondensation reaction and poly(alkanoyl ethylene-imine)

(11) In a typical polycondensation reaction, the acid and the amine are mixed in appropriate amounts (up to equimolar ratios of the amine and the acid) and heated to 150 C. under a nitrogen flow (to remove the water) for about 6 hours. The course of the reaction is followed by (FT)IR spectroscopy (disappearance of the acid and the salt absorption bands and formation of the secondary and tertiary amide bands). Depending on the molecular weight of the polyacrylic acid or polyethylenimine and the charge of long chain aliphatic amines or long chain aliphatic acids the molecular weight of the resulting polymer can be tuned.

(12) The reaction is as follows:

(13) ##STR00009##

Example 5

Preparation of Candle Wax

(14) Different types of candle wax are prepared in which the composition of the candle wax base and also the ratio of the units in the copolymer can vary. Table 1 shows the results of the effect of anti-crystallisation. The effect of anti-crystallisation is displayed as

(15) : poor anti-crystallisation effect, many crystals present in candle wax,

(16) : mild anti-crystallisation effect, many crystals present in candle wax,

(17) +/: average anti-crystallisation effect, few crystals present, but still visible,

(18) +: anti-crystallisation effect, very few crystals in wax,

(19) ++: very good anti-crystallisation effect, no crystals or no visible crystals present in the candle wax.

(20) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Overview of the anti-crystallisation effect by the addition of polymer to the candle wax base. Hexadexyl/oxadecyl x/y: (x) represents the weight ratio of the palmityl group (hexadecyl) and (y) represents the weight ratio of the stearyl group (octadecyl) of the whole polymer. A, B and C represents the weight ratio of the amount of fatty acids which can be found in the candle wax base of C.sub.16 hexadecanoic acid % C.sub.18 octadecanoic acid % respectively. A B C C16 hexadecanoic acid % 60-67 48-52 35-41 C18 octadecanoic acid % 27-36 46-51 55-60 Titer C. 53-56 55-56 56-58 Polymer additive C ppm 0 / +/ Hexadecyl/Octadecyl 5/95 1 Poly (vinyl alkyl ether) Mw(A): 7 kDa 200 ++ 2 Poly (vinyl alkyl ether) Mw(A): 70 kDa 200 ++ 3 Poly (vinyl alkyl ether) Mw(A): 350 kDa 200 ++ Hexadecyl/Octadecyl 50/50 4 Poly (vinyl alkyl ether) Mw(A): 7 kDa 200 ++ 5 Poly (vinyl alkyl ether) Mw(A): 75 kDa 200 +/ ++ 6 Poly (vinyl alkyl ether) Mw(A): 320 kDa 200 +/ +/ ++ Hexadecyl/Octadecyl 70/30 8 Poly (vinyl alkyl ether) Mw(A): 7 kDa 200 + ++ 9 Poly (vinyl alkyl ether) Mw(A): 75 kDa 200 ++ + ++ 10 Poly (vinyl alkyl ether) Mw(A): 320 kDa 200 ++ + ++ Hexadecyl/Octadecyl 70/30 11 Poly (vinyl alkyl ether) Mw(A): 75 kDa 200 ++ + ++ 12 Poly (vinyl alkyl ether) Mw(A): 75 kDa 500 ++ ++ ++ 13 Poly (vinyl alkyl ether) Mw(A): 75 kDa 1000 ++ ++ ++ Hexadecyl/Octadecyl 70/30 14 Poly (vinyl alkyl ether - alkyl Mw(A): 100 kDa 300 ++ ++ ++ acrylate copolymer) 15 Poly (vinyl alkyl ether - maleic Mw(A): 100 kDa 300 ++ + + anhydride copolymer) 16 Poly (vinyl alkyl ether - (di)alkyl Mw(A): 100 kDa 300 ++ ++ ++ maleate copolymer) 17 Poly (vinyl alkyl ether - (di)alkyl Mw(A): 100 kDa 300 ++ ++ ++ maleate - vinyl trialkoxysilane copolymer) 18 Poly (vinyl alkyl ether - vinyl tri- Mw(A): 100 kDa 300 ++ ++ ++ alkoxysilane copolymer) 19 Poly (vinyl acetate - (di)alkyl maleate Mw(A): 100 kDa 300 ++ + + copolymer) 20 Poly (vinyl acetate - (di)alkyl Mw(A): 100 kDa 300 ++ + + maleate - trialkoxysilane copolymer 21 Polystyrene - (di)alkyl maleate Mw(A): 100 kDa 300 + + + copolymer 22 Poly (alkanoyl ethylene-imine) Mw(A): 100 kDa 300 ++ ++ ++ 24 Poly (alkyl acrylamide) Mw(A): 100 kDa 300 + + + 25 Poly (ethylene - (di)alkyl maleate Mw(A): 100 kDa 300 ++ ++ ++ copolymer) 26 Poly (propylene - (di)alkyl maleate Mw(A): 100 kDa 300 ++ ++ ++ copolymer) 27 Poly (butylene (di)alkyl maleate Mw(A): 100 kDa 300 ++ ++ ++ copolymer) 28 poly (ethylene - (di)alkyl maleamide Mw(A): 100 kDa 300 + + + copolymer) 29 poly (propylene - (di)alkyl maleamide Mw(A): 100 kDa 300 + + + copolymer) 30 poly (butylene - (di)alkyl maleamide Mw(A): 100 kDa 300 + + + copolymer)