US 20140087.083A1 (19) United States (12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2014/0087083 A1 LaW et al. (43) Pub. Date: Mar. 27, 2014

(54) STARCH BASED POLYMER BLENDS Publication Classification (71) Applicant: Biome Limited, (51) Int. Cl. Southampton (GB) C09D 67/02 (2006.01) (52) U.S. Cl. (72) Inventors: Paul William Law, Warwickshire (GB); CPC ...... C09D 167/02 (2013.01) Tony Longdon, Measham (GB); Daniel USPC ...... 427/398.2: 524/47 Arnillas Perez, Southampton (GB); Maria Begona Gomis Gomis, Southampton (GB) (57) ABSTRACT 73) Assi : Bi Bioplastics Limited (73) Assignee: SouthamptonBiome Bioplastics (GB) Limited, A starch based polymer blend Suitable for extrusion , of , film, coated or , foil, and (21) Appl. No.: 14/037,323 fibrous webs comprises starch in the range 10% to 60% by 9 weight of the polymer blend, one or more further carrier (22) Filed: Sep. 25, 2013 polymers in the range 40% to 90% by weight of the polymer blend, and optionally one or more process aids in the range (30) Foreign Application Priority Data 0% to 0.1% by weight of the polymer blend wherein the polymer blend has a melt flow index of at least 10 g/10 min (5 Sep. 26, 2012 (GB) ...... GB12172O7.8 kg, 190 C).

. Melt curtain Chill roller

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Coated paper out Nip roller Patent Application Publication Mar. 27, 2014 Sheet 1 of 2 US 2014/0087.083 A1

Melt curtain

Chill roller

Coated paper out Nip roller

FIGURE 1 Patent Application Publication Mar. 27, 2014 Sheet 2 of 2 US 2014/0087.083 A1

Coating

Coated Moving Material tenSOmeter jaws

Substrate

FIGURE 2 US 2014/0087.083 A1 Mar. 27, 2014

STARCH BASED POLYMER BLENDS 0006. One drawback of such resins is that the starch com ponent confers rather high viscosity, which means that high 0001. This invention relates to starch based polymer extruder pressures arise in trying to process these resins at the blends containing starch and applications and processes high speeds, effectively limiting the speeds achievable on the employing Such blends, especially extrusion coating and coating machine. High speeds are required in extrusion coat laminating with starch based polymer blends. ing and laminating processes for economic efficiency. Whilst 0002 Recent years have seen an accelerating trend in the Some companies add plasticiser systems as noted above, commercial use of bio-resins across a wide range of products. which can reduce viscosities significantly, such plasticisers This growth has been driven by a range of factors. With are high boiling liquids and can cause significant fuming and petrochemical based polymers likely to be more limited and condensation in coating processes, which is undesirable from expensive in coming years, the availability of materials based health and safety and processing points of view. A common on Sustainable, renewable resources is a key factor. For dis way to lower the viscosity of polyolefin resins would be to posable products such as packaging ease of disposal via a increase the temperature in the extruder and . However, range of routes, including composting and anaerobic diges due to their thermal sensitivity, the scope for increasing the tion, is another important advantage over traditional materi temperature of bio-resins is usually limited, so this is not a als. useful route to lowering processing pressures. 0003) Application areas for bio-resins which are particu 0007 Another aspect of these resins is that they are usually larly attractive are as an extrusion hot melt coating on a compounded with one or more additives designed for lubri continuous Substrate e.g. paper and film, or similarly as a hot cation. Typical additives might include long chain fatty acid