Artificial turf grass with natural appearance

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a turf filament comprising from 50 to 99.5 weight percent of abase polymer selected from polyolefins, polyamides, polyesters and combinations thereof, from 0.1 to 20 weight percent of polymer particles having a core and a shell structure where the core comprises a first polymeric material having a first refractive index and the shell comprises a second polymeric material having a second refractive index that is different from the first refractive index, from 0.5 to 30 weight percent of a compatibilizer and from 0 to 10 weight percent of a colorant based on total weight of the filaments. Also disclosed is a synthetic turf comprising such filaments. These filaments provide a turf with a natural appearance.

1 . A turf filament comprising from 50 to 99.5 weight percent of a base polymer selected from polyolefins, polyamides, polyesters and combinations thereof, from 0.1 to 20 weight percent of polymer particles having a core and a shell structure where the core comprises a first polymeric material having a first refractive index and the shell comprises a second polymeric material having a second refractive index that is different from the first refractive index, from 0.5 to 30 weight percent of a compatibilizer and from 0 to 10 weight percent of a colorant based on total weight of the filaments. 
     
     
         2 . The filament of  claim 1  wherein the base polymer comprises a linear low density polyethylene. 
     
     
         3 . The filament of  claim 1  wherein the first polymeric material of the core of the polymer particle is elastomeric and the second polymeric material of the shell of the polymer particle is a thermoplastic. 
     
     
         4 . The filament of  claim 3  wherein the shell comprises an acrylic polymer. 
     
     
         5 . The filament of  claim 1 , wherein the compatibilizer is a polyolefin copolymer with acrylic acid, a polyolefin copolymer with an acrylate, a polyolefin copolymer with a maleic anhydride ester or is grafted with one or more anhydride group, acrylate group or carboxylic acid group. 
     
     
         6 . The filament of  claim 1  wherein the particles have an average size in the range of 1 to 10 microns. 
     
     
         7 . The filament of  claim 1  having 0.5 to 10 weight percent of the particles, 0.5 to 10 weight percent of the compatibilizer and 0.5 to 10 weight percent of the colorant based on total weight of the filament. 
     
     
         8 . The filament of  claim 1  further comprising one or more of infrared reflectants, UV stabilizers, anti-oxidants, fire-retardants luminescent compounds, processing aids, and fillers. 
     
     
         9 . The filament of  claim 1  wherein the first and second refractive index differ by at least 0.02. 
     
     
         10 . A turf filament comprising
 50 to 99 weight percent of a polyolefin   0.1 to 20 weight percent of a core shell polymeric particle having an elastomeric core and an acrylic polymer shell and,   0.5 to 30 weight percent of a compatibilizer comprising a polyolefin having carboxylic acid, acrylate functionality, or maleic anhydride functionality   0 to 10 weight percent of a colorant.   
     
     
         11 . A synthetic turf comprising a substrate having a plurality of turf filaments of extending from the substrate wherein the turf filaments comprise 50 to 99.5 weight percent of a base polymer, 0.1 to 20 weight percent of polymeric particles comprising a core and a shell, 0.5 to 30 weight percent of a compatibilizer and 0 to 10 weight percent of a colorant based on total weight of the filaments, and
 wherein the polymeric particles are characterized in that (a) the core comprises a first polymeric material having a first refractive index and the shell comprises a second polymeric material having a second refractive index that is different front the first refractive index, and/or (b) the core is elastomeric and the shell comprises an acrylic polymer.   
     
     
         12 . The synthetic turf of  claim 11  further comprising infill particles on the substrate and around the filaments. 
     
     
         13 . The synthetic turf of  claim 11  further comprising a backing sheet to hold the filaments in place. 
     
     
         14 . The filament of  claim 3  wherein the polymer particles include an intermediate layer on the core and the shell layer is graft polymerized on the core or on the intermediate layer. 
     
     
         15 . The synthetic turf of  claim 11  wherein the base polymer is a polyethylene. 
     
     
         16 . The synthetic turf of  claim 11  wherein the polymer particles have a particle size of 1 to 10 microns. 
     
     
         17 . The synthetic turf of  claim 11  wherein the compatibilizer comprises polyolefin copolymer with acrylic acid, a polyolefin copolymer with an acrylate, a polyolefin copolymer with a maleic anhydride ester or is grafted with one or more anhydride group, acrylate group or carboxylic acid group.