Plasticized polyamide compositions

Abstract

Plasticized compositions comprising polyamide or polyamide/ionomer blend and poly(trimethylene ether) glycol are provided. Also articles prepared from these compositions are provided.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A flexible polymer composition comprising a polyamide base polymer and plasticizer, wherein the plasticizer comprises an effective amount of poly(trimethylene ether) glycol (PPD), wherein the polyamide base polymer is an aliphatic polyamide, a semi-aromatic polyamide, or a mixture thereof. 
     
     
         2 . The flexible polymer composition of  claim 1 , wherein the PPD is present in an amount of from about 1 to about 15% by weight based on the total weight of the base polymer. 
     
     
         3 . The flexible polymer composition of  claim 1 , wherein the polyamide base polymer comprises nylon 6, nylon 66, nylon 610, nylon 1010, nylon 612, nylon 11, nylon 12, or mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The flexible polymer composition of  claim 1 , wherein the plasticizer is present in an amount of from about 1 to about 10 wt %. 
     
     
         5 . The flexible polymer composition of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more additional natural or synthetic ester plasticizers. 
     
     
         6 . The flexible polymer composition of  claim 1  wherein the polymer further comprises an ethylene acid copolymer or a salt thereof. 
     
     
         7 . The flexible polymer composition of  claim 1  comprising Nylon 6 in an amount of at least about 50 wt %, wherein the composition has a flex modulus of less than about 1500 MPa, wherein the flex modulus is measured by ASTM D790-10 test method. 
     
     
         8 . The composition of  claim 1  comprising Nylon 12 in an amount of at least about 50 wt % and wherein the composition has a flex modulus of less than than 1000 MPa. 
     
     
         9 . The composition of  claim 1  wherein the PPD has a number average molecular weight (Mn) below 500. 
     
     
         10 . The composition of  claim 5  wherein the additional plasticizer is the benzoate ester of PPD. 
     
     
         11 . An article comprising the polymer composition of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         12 . The article of  claim 11 , wherein the effective amount of plasticizer is from 1 to 15% by weight based on the total weight of the base polymer. 
     
     
         13 . The article of  claim 11 , wherein the aliphatic polyamide base polymer comprises nylon 6, nylon 66, nylon 610, nylon 1010, nylon 612, nylon 11, nylon 12, or mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         14 . The article of  claim 11  wherein the composition further comprises an ethylene acid copolymer or salt thereof.