An epilamization agent containing at least one compound including at least hydrophobic and oleophobic moieties arranged to impart epilame properties to the compound, and at least one hydrophilic moiety arranged to make the compound soluble in aqueous medium, the hydrophilic moiety being linked to the compound by at least one cleavable group. A method for coating a substrate with epilame, including: preparing an aqueous epilamization bath by solubilising such an epilamization agent, placing the substrate in contact with the epilamization agent in the epilamization bath, separating the hydrophilic moiety from the epilamization agent by cleavage, rinsing the substrate to eliminate the hydrophilic residues from the hydrophilic moiety and drying.

One or more aspects of the present disclosure provide articles of manufacture and components of articles that incorporate an optical element that imparts structural color to the component or the article. The component comprises a cured or curable material, and can include or be made to have a textured surface.

One or more aspects of the present disclosure are directed to components having an optical element that imparts structural color to the component or article. The present disclosure is also directed to articles of manufacture including the component having an optical element, and methods for making components and articles having an optical element that imparts structural color.

Provided are a flexible tube for an endoscope, the flexible tube having a flexible tube base made of metal, a resin cover layer that covers an outer periphery of the flexible tube base, and a primer layer that includes at least one compound represented by general formula (1) or (2) and that is disposed between the flexible tube base and the resin cover layer, in which the resin cover layer includes at least one selected from the group consisting of polyamides, polyesters, polyurethanes, and polyolefins on a side of the resin cover layer in contact with the primer layer, an endoscopic medical device including the flexible tube for an endoscope; a method for producing the flexible tube for an endoscope; and a method for producing the endoscopic medical device.

R.sup.1.sub.m-M-(OR.sup.2).sub.n-m  General formula (1):

O-[M-(OR.sup.2).sub.n-1].sub.2  General formula (2): M represents, for example, Al, Ti, or Zr. R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 each represent a hydrogen atom or a specific group. m is an integer of 0 to 3, n is a valence of M, and n>m is satisfied.

A hose is provided comprising a rubber backing layer directly bonded to a continuous polyamide layer without an intervening adhesive layer, wherein the hose exhibits increased low and high temperature capability and decreased permeation compared to standard automotive refrigerant hoses.

A method is disclosed for producing a multicoat paint system on a metallic substrate by producing a basecoat or a plurality of directly successive basecoats directly on a metallic substrate coated with a cured electrocoat system, producing a clearcoat directly on the one or the topmost of the plurality of basecoats, and subsequently jointly curing the one or the plurality of basecoats and the clearcoat. At least one basecoat material used for producing the basecoats includes at least one predispersed mixture including at least one polyamide having an acid number of less than 20 mg KOH/g, at least one polymeric resin different from the polyamide, and also water and at least one organic solvent.

Embodiments of the disclosure are generally directed to systems and methods for switchable electroactive devices for head-mounted displays (HMDs). In particular, a method may include (1) applying an electric field to an electroactive element of an electroactive device via electrodes of the electroactive device that are electrically coupled to the electroactive element to compress the electroactive element, which comprises a polymer material defining nanovoids, such that an average size of the nanovoids is decreased and a density of the nanovoids is increased in the electroactive element, wherein the electroactive device is positioned at a distance from a user's eye, and (2) emitting image light from an emissive device positioned such that at least a portion of the image light is incident on a surface of the electroactive device facing the user's eye.

An example device includes a nanovoided polymer element, which may be located at least in part between the electrodes. In some examples, the nanovoided polymer element may include anisotropic voids, including a gas, and separated from each other by polymer walls. The device may be an electroactive device, such as an actuator having a response time for a transition between actuation states. The gas may have a characteristic diffusion time (e.g., to diffuse half the mean wall thickness through the polymer walls) that is less than the response time. The nanovoids may be sufficiently small (e.g., below 1 micron in diameter or an analogous dimension), and/or the polymer walls may be sufficiently thin, such that the gas interchange between gas in the voids and gas absorbed by the polymer walls may occur faster than the response time, and in some examples, effectively instantaneously.

Example methods include depositing a precursor layer onto a substrate where the precursor layer includes droplets comprising a polymerizable material, inducing a phase inversion in the precursor layer to obtain a modified precursor layer including droplets of a non-polymerizable liquid within a polymerizable liquid mixture, and polymerizing the polymerizable liquid mixture to obtain a nanovoided polymer element. Examples include devices fabricated using nanovoided polymer elements fabricated using such methods, including electroactive devices such as actuators and sensors.

An optical element includes a nanovoided polymer layer having a first refractive index in an unactuated state and a second refractive index different than the first refractive index in an actuated state. Compression or expansion of the nanovoided polymer layer, for instance, can be used to reversibly control the size and shape of the nanovoids within the polymer layer and hence tune its refractive index over a range of values, e.g., during operation of the optical element. Various other apparatuses, systems, materials, and methods are also disclosed.