CARPET BACKING

Carpet backing is - after paints, paper and adhesives applications - the fourth largest bulk application of emulsion polymers. About 700 000 tons per year (dry) are used worldwide, mainly as binder for the backing of tufted carpets. The function of a carpet backing is to anchor the pile fibres in place and to improve dimensional stability of the tufted material. 

Today the production of tufted carpet in North America is about 1.4 billion m, of which 70% are still produced in the Dalton area. In Europe about 0.7 billion m and in South-east Asia about 0.2 billion m are produced. 

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Slit-Film Fiber. A substantial volume of olefin fiber is produced by slit-film or film-to-fiber technology (29). For producing filaments with high linear density, above 0.7 tex (6.6 den), the production economics ate more favorable than monofilament spinning (29). The fibers are used primarily for carpet backing and rope or cordage appHcations. The processes used to make slit-film fibers are versatile and economical. 

Polypropylene fibers are used in every aspect of carpet constmetion from face fiber to primary and secondary backings. Polypropylene s advantages over jute as carpet backing are dimensional stabiUty and minimal moisture absorption. Drawbacks include difficulty in dyeing and higher cost. Bulked-continuous-filament (BCF) carpet yams provide face fiber with improved crimp and elasticity. BCF carpet yams are especially important in contract carpets, characterized by low dense loops, where easy cleaning is an advantage. 

Textile uses are a relatively stable area and consist of the lamination of polyester foams to textile products, usually by flame lamination or electronic heat sealing techniques. Flexible or semirigid foams are used in engineered packaging in the form of special slab material. Flexible foams are also used to make filters (reticulated foam), sponges, scmbbers, fabric softener carriers, squeegees, paint appHcators, and directly appHed foam carpet backing. 

Hydrocarbon resin is a broad term that is usually used to describe a low molecular weight thermoplastic polymer synthesized via the thermal or catalytic polymerization of coal-tar fractions, cracked petroleum distillates, terpenes, or pure olefinic monomers. These resins are used extensively as modifiers in the hot melt and pressure sensitive adhesive industries. They are also used in numerous other appHcations such as sealants, printing inks, paints, plastics, road marking, carpet backing, flooring, and oil field appHcations. They are rarely used alone. 

Fibers. Polypropylene fibers are extensively used in carpeting. Bulked continuous filament yams are commonly used in carpet facing in the level loop carpets used in commercial buildings however, nylon remains the dominant face yam in tufted household carpets. The advantages of polypropylene carpeting are superior stain resistance and low moisture absorbance. Polypropylene sHt tape fibers are heavily used in carpet backing. 

Approximately 600,000 metric tons of aluminum hydroxides were used in chemical appHcations in the United States in 1988 40% as fillers, 45% for the production of aluminum chemicals, and 15% for various other uses. Carpet backing was the principal filler type appHcation foUowed by polyester products. 

Polypropylene is used in battery cases and in the replacement of metal parts in automobiles. It is also widely used in consumer products, eg, kitchen wares, trays, toys, and packaging materials. Its future appHcations are expected to include an increased portion of the fibers and filaments markets, especially for continued growth in carpet backing and carpet face yams. Film, both oriented and unoriented, is also expected to be a significant growth market for polypropylene. 

Floor mats, carpet backing, and reHef mats have been traditional markets for ground mbber where the material adds resHiency at a lower cost compared to virgin compounds. Certain molded products have also been markets for ground mbber. An interesting use is the manufacture of lawn soaker... 

Flame retardants such as a-alumina trihydrate [14762-49-3] can be added to latex-based foamed carpet backing a combination of antimony oxide [1309-64-4] and chlorinated paraffins is used in dry mbber. 

Synthetic. The main types of elastomeric polymers commercially available in latex form from emulsion polymerization are butadiene—styrene, butadiene—acrylonitrile, and chloroprene (neoprene). There are also a number of specialty latices that contain polymers that are basically variations of the above polymers, eg, those to which a third monomer has been added to provide a polymer that performs a specific function. The most important of these are products that contain either a basic, eg, vinylpyridine, or an acidic monomer, eg, methacrylic acid. These latices are specifically designed for tire cord solutioning, papercoating, and carpet back-sizing. 

Styrene—Butadiene Latex. SB latex is used in coatings, carpet backing, paper adhesives, cement additives, and latex paint. 

Copolymers with butadiene, ie, those containing at least 60 wt % butadiene, are an important family of mbbers. In addition to synthetic mbber, these compositions have extensive uses as paper coatings, water-based paints, and carpet backing. Because of unfavorable reaction kinetics in a mass system, these copolymers are made in an emulsion polymerization system, which favors chain propagation but not termination (199). The result is economically acceptable rates with desirable chain lengths. Usually such processes are mn batchwise in order to achieve satisfactory particle size distribution. 

Vinylidene Chloride Copolymer Latex. Vinyhdene chloride polymers are often made in emulsion, but usuaUy are isolated, dried, and used as conventional resins. Stable latices have been prepared and can be used direcdy for coatings (171—176). The principal apphcations for these materials are as barrier coatings on paper products and, more recently, on plastic films. The heat-seal characteristics of VDC copolymer coatings are equaUy valuable in many apphcations. They are also used as binders for paints and nonwoven fabrics (177). The use of special VDC copolymer latices for barrier laminating adhesives is growing, and the use of vinyhdene chloride copolymers in flame-resistant carpet backing is weU known (178—181). VDC latices can also be used to coat poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) bottles to retain carbon dioxide (182). 

Vinyl acetate [108-05-4] (VAc), CH2=CHOOCCH2, the ethenyl ester of acetic acid, is primarily use for the manufacture of poly(vinyl acetate) [9003-20-7] (PVAc) and vinyl acetate copolymers. Poly(vinyl acetate) homo- and copolymers are found as components in coatings, paints and sealants, binders (adhesives, nonwovens, constmction products, and carpet-backing), and miscellaneous uses such as chewing gum and tablet coatings. AppHcations have grown over the years in a number of areas (1 4). 

Special types of carbon black may be incorporated in latexes used for backing of carpets to enhance their conductivity. Nylon carpets backed with such conductive latex offer excellent antistatic properties even at 10% rh (110). 

Calcium carbonate continues to be used in its original appHcation, putty, as weU as caulks, sealants (qv), adhesives (qv), and printing inks (qv). Large volumes are used in carpet backing and in joint cements. It is used to improve body, reinforcement, and other properties. 

Styrene (vinyl benzene) QH5CH=CH2 Polymers (CgHaln for audio and video cassettes, carpet backing, domestic appliances, packaging, food containers, furniture, toys, vehicle parts... 

Binder formulas for carpet backing, aluminum foil to paper, vinyl flooring, tire cord, paper labeling, masking tape, and oriented polypropylene tape applications are available from Midgley and Rea in Skiest [215]. 

The main use of SBR is for tire production. Other uses include footwear, coatings, carpet backing, and adhesives. 

Microcellular elastomers16 bridge the gap between solid elastomers and low-density foams. Although they may appear to be noncellular, these materials have a microscopic cell structure and so are by definition high-density foams, with densities between noncellular solids and standard foams. The most commercially important applications include shoe soles, carpet backing, chair armrests,... 

Ny lon-6 (108 g) carpet backed with calcium-carbonate-filled latex and polypropylene was charged to a 1000-mL three-neck round-bottom flask (equipped with a condenser) with 6 mL of 85% phosphoric acid. Superheated steam was injected continuously during a 45-min period. The vapor temperature of the reaction medium was 250-300°C. The volume of distillate collected was 1065 mL. The distillate contained 1.9% e-caprolactam (as determined by GC), which corresponded to a crude yield of 37.5%. The distillate was fractionated in a distillation column and the nonaqueous phase removed. The remaining aqueous phase was treated with 2% potassium permanganate at 40-50°C for 2 h. Evaporation of... 

A modified latex composition contains a phosphorus surface group. Such a latex is formed by emulsion polymerization of unsaturated synthetic monomers in the presence of a phosponate or a phosphate which is intimately bound to the surface of the latex. Thus, a modified latex containing 46% solids was prepared by emulsion polymerization of butadiene, styrene, acrylic acid-styrene seed latex, and a phosphonate comonomer in H20 in the presence of phosphated alkylphenol ethoxylate at 90°C. The modified latex is useful as a coating for substrates and as a binder in aqueous systems containing inorganic fillers employed in paper coatings, carpet backings, and wallboards [119]. 

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