Golf balls containing highly-neutralized acid polymers and ionic plasticizers

Abstract

A golf ball comprising a core and a cover layer, wherein at least one of the core and the cover layer includes a polymer composition of a highly-neutralized acid polymer and an ionic plasticizer is disclosed and described. The highly-neutralized acid polymer can comprise at least 50 wt % of the polymer composition and have 70% to 100% of the acid groups neutralized. In addition, the ionic plasticizer can be alcohol esters, montanic acids, montanic acid esters, alkylene bis-amines, zwitterionic compounds, salts thereof, or combinations thereof.

1 . A golf ball comprising a core and a cover layer, wherein at least one of the core and the cover layer includes a polymer composition, comprising:
 a highly-neutralized acid polymer having acid groups comprising at least 50 wt % of the polymer composition wherein 70% to 100% of the acid groups are neutralized; and   an ionic plasticizer being selected from the group consisting of alcohol esters, montanic acids, montanic acid esters, alkylene bis-amines, zwitterionic compounds, salts thereof, and combinations thereof.   
   
   
       2 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the core includes a center and an outer core layer, or the cover layer is a double layer cover having an inner cover layer and an outer cover layer. 
   
   
       3 . The golf ball of  claim 2 , and wherein the polymer composition is present in the outer core layer or the inner cover layer. 
   
   
       4 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the polymer composition is present in the core. 
   
   
       5 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the polymer composition is present in the cover layer. 
   
   
       6 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the highly-neutralized acid polymer is a copolymer of a C 3  to C 8  α,β-ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid and a C 2  to C 6  α-olefin. 
   
   
       7 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the highly-neutralized acid polymer further includes a softening monomer admixed or copolymerized therewith. 
   
   
       8 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the acid groups are at least 95% neutralized. 
   
   
       9 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the ionic plasticizer is a polyalcohol ester. 
   
   
       10 . The golf ball of  claim 9 , wherein the polyalcohol ester is selected from the group consisting of glycerol monostearate, pentaerythritol distearate, glycerine monooleate, glycerine dioleate, pentaerythritol tetrastearate, pentaerythritol tetraisostearate, pentaerythritol tetraoleate, neo-pentyl glycol dioleate, and combinations thereof. 
   
   
       11 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the ionic plasticizer is a montanic acid, montanic acid ester, or salt thereof. 
   
   
       12 . The golf ball of  claim 11 , wherein the montanic acid ester or salt thereof is a reaction product of montanic acid and an alcohol selected from the group consisting of C 1 -C 4  alkanols, C 1 -C 4  alkylene glycols, glycerol, and combinations thereof. 
   
   
       13 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the ionic plasticizer is an alkylene bis-amine. 
   
   
       14 . The golf ball of  claim 13 , wherein the alkylene bis-amine is a fatty acid amine. 
   
   
       15 . The golf ball of  claim 14 , wherein the fatty acid amine is bis-stearoylethylenediamine, ethylene bisstearamide, oleamide, or erucamide. 
   
   
       16 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the ionic plasticizer is a zwitterionic compound. 
   
   
       17 . The golf ball of  claim 16 , wherein the zwitterionic compound is N,N-dimethyl-N-stearyl-N-(3-sulfopropyl)-ammonium betaine. 
   
   
       18 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the golf ball has a coefficient of restitution of at least 0.810 and an Atti compression from 90 to 100. 
   
   
       19 . The golf ball of  claim 1 , wherein the polymer composition is substantially devoid of fatty acids and polyhydric alcohols. 
   
   
       20 . A golf ball, comprising:
 a solid core;   a cover layer comprising a polyurethane or polyurea; and   an intermediate layer disposed between the solid core and the cover layer, wherein the intermediate layer includes a polymer composition, comprising:
 a highly-neutralized acid polymer having acid groups comprising at least 50 wt % of the polymer composition and wherein at least 98% of the acid groups are neutralized; and 
 an ionic plasticizer comprising a montanic acid, montanic acid ester, or salt thereof.