Curable composition and compatibilizing agent

Abstract

It is an object of the present invention to provide a curable which has good storage stability and can give cured products retaining the high elongation characteristic originating from the polyether polymer and showing a high gel fraction and good weatherability. Thus, the present invention provides a curable composition which comprises the following two components: a polyether polymer having at least one crosslinkable functional group and a vinyl polymer which is compatible with said polyether polymer having at least one crosslinkable functional group at a polymer terminus. Further, the present invention provides a curable composition which comprises the following three components: a polyether polymer having at least one crosslinkable functional group, a vinyl polymer incompatible with said polyether polymer and having at least one crosslinkable function group, and a compatibilizing agent capable of compatibilizing said polyether polymer and said vinyl polymer with each other when added to a mixture thereof.

1 . A curable composition 
 which comprises the following two components:    (I) a polyether polymer having at least one crosslinkable functional group and    (II) a vinyl polymer    which is compatible with said polyether polymer, has a weight average molecular weight (Mw)-to-number average molecular weight (Mn) ratio (Mw/Mn) of less than 1.8 as determined by gel permeation chromatography and has at least one crosslinkable functional group at a polymer terminus.    
     
     
         2 . A curable composition 
 which comprises the following two components:    (I) a polyether polymer having at least one crosslinkable functional group and    (II) a vinyl polymer    which is compatible with said polyether polymer, is a product of living radical polymerization and has at least one crosslinkable functional group at a polymer terminus.    
     
     
         3 . (canceled)  
     
     
         4 . A curable composition 
 which comprises the following three components:    (I) a polyether polymer having at least one crosslinkable functional group,    (II) a vinyl polymer incompatible with said polyether polymer and having at least one crosslinkable function group, and    (IV) at least one compatibilizing agent capable of compatibilizing said polyether polymer and said vinyl polymer with each other when added to a mixture thereof, said compatibilizing agent being selected from the group consisting of nonpolymer organic compounds, polymers obtainable by polymerizing a monomer or monomers other than vinyl monomers, and polymers obtainable by polymerizing a single vinyl monomer.    
     
     
         5 . The curable composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the main chain of the polyether polymer (I) is essentially a polyoxyalkylene.  
     
     
         6 . The curable composition according to  claim 5 , wherein the main chain of the polyether polymer (I) is essentially polypropylene oxide.  
     
     
         7 . The curable composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the crosslinkable functional group of the polyether polymer (I) is a crosslinkable silyl group.  
     
     
         8 . The curable composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the vinyl polymer (II) has a number average molecular weight of not less than 3,000 as determined by gel permeation chromatography.  
     
     
         9 . The curable composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the main chain of the vinyl polymer (II) is obtainable by polymerizing principally at least one monomer selected from the group consisting of (meth)acrylic monomers, acrylonitrile monomers, aromatic vinyl monomers, fluorine-containing vinyl monomers and silicon-containing vinyl monomers.  
     
     
         10 . The curable composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the vinyl polymer (II) comprises (meth)acrylic acid ester units having, in the ester moiety thereof, a group selected from the group consisting of alkyl groups containing 5 to 30 carbon atoms, aryl groups containing 6 to 30 carbon atoms and aralkyl groups containing 7 to 30 carbon atoms.  
     
     
         11 . The curable composition according to  claim 9 , wherein the vinyl polymer (II) is a (meth)acrylic polymer.  
     
     
         12 . The curable composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the crosslinkable functional group of the vinyl polymer (II) is a crosslinkable silyl group.  
     
     
         13 . The curable composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the crosslinkable functional group of the vinyl polymer (II) is an alkenyl group.  
     
     
         14 . The curable composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the crosslinkable functional group of the vinyl polymer (II) is a hydroxyl group.  
     
     
         15 . The curable composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the crosslinkable functional group of the vinyl polymer (II) is an amino group.  
     
     
         16 . The curable composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the crosslinkable functional group of the vinyl polymer (II) is a polymerizable carbon-carbon double bond-containing group.  
     
     
         17 . The curable composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the crosslinkable functional group of the vinyl polymer (II) is an epoxy group.  
     
     
         18 . The curable composition according to  claim 1 , wherein the main chain of the vinyl polymer (II) is one produced by a living radical polymerization technique.  
     
     
         19 . The curable composition according to  claim 18 , wherein the living radical polymerization technique is an atom transfer radical polymerization.  
     
     
         20 . The curable composition according to  claim 4 , wherein the compatibilizing agent (IV) is a polyoxyalkylene having a molecular weight of not more than 3,000.  
     
     
         21 . The curable composition according to  claim 20 , wherein the compatibilizing agent (IV) is polypropylene oxide having a molecular weight of not more than 3,000.  
     
     
         22 . The curable composition according to  claim 4 , in which the cured product derived there from by curing without using any filler and having a thickness of not more than 100 μm shows a level of weatherability which is not shorter than 20 hours in sunshine weathermeter testing.  
     
     
         23 . The curable composition according  claim 1 , which further comprises an acrylic plasticizer.  
     
     
         24 . A compatibilizing agent obtainable by copolymerization of a plurality of vinyl monomers and capable of compatibilizing the two components: 
 (I) a polyether polymer having at least one crosslinkable functional group, and    (II) a vinyl polymer incompatible with said polyether polymer and having at least one crosslinkable function group,    with each other, when added to a mixture thereof.    
     
     
         25 . The compatibilizing agent according to  claim 24 , which is obtainable by the copolymerization of at least one vinyl monomer selected from among the monomers usable in polymerizing the vinyl polymer (II), with another vinyl monomer.  
     
     
         26 . The compatibilizing agent according to  claim 25 , wherein the other vinyl monomer is a vinyl monomer having a polyether structure.  
     
     
         27 . The compatibilizing agent according to  claim 26 , wherein the mole ratio between the at least one monomer selected from among the monomers usable in polymerizing the vinyl polymer (II) and the vinyl monomer having a polyether structure is within the range of 1:20 to 20:1.  
     
     
         28 . The compatibilizing agent according to  claim 24 , which has a number average molecular weight of 500 to 50,000 as determined by gel permeation chromatography.  
     
     
         29 . The compatibilizing agent according to  claim 26 , wherein the polyether structure is essentially polypropylene oxide.  
     
     
         30 . The compatibilizing agent according to  claim 24 , wherein the vinyl monomer is a (meth)acrylic monomer.  
     
     
         31 . The compatibilizing agent according to  claim 26 , which is produced by a living radical polymerization technique.  
     
     
         32 . The compatibilizing agent according to  claim 31 , wherein the living radical polymerization technique consists in atom transfer radical polymerization.