An apparatus for making a nonwoven fabric from thermoplastic fibers has a spinneret for spinning fibers into continuous filaments and a cooler for cooling the filaments. The cooled filaments are then deposited on a conveyor to form a nonwoven web. A first consolidator surface treats the nonwoven web with a hot fluid or hot air as it is conveyed on the conveyor. A second consolidating downstream of the first consolidator has a dual-belt furnace in which the nonwoven web is passed between two circulating belts or continuous belts for surface treating the nonwoven web with a hot fluid or hot air and for applying surface pressure can be applied to the nonwoven web at the same time.

A polymer body includes a first thermoplastic polymer, and a second thermoplastic polymer. The first thermoplastic polymer and the second thermoplastic polymer form a continuous solid structure. The first thermoplastic polymer forms an external supporting structure that at least partially envelops the second thermoplastic polymer. A first flow temperature of the first thermoplastic polymer is at least 10° C. higher than a second flow temperature of the second thermoplastic polymer. The first thermoplastic polymer may be removable by exposure to a selective solvent.

Porous and microporous parts prepared by additive manufacturing as disclosed herein are useful in medical and non-medical applications. The parts are prepared from a composition containing both a solvent soluble component and a solvent insoluble component. After a part is printed by an additive manufacturing process it is exposed to solvent to extract solvent soluble component away from the printed part, resulting in a part having surface cavities.

An apparatus and method for treating a plastic molded article. The apparatus includes a treatment chamber that can be closed and temperature-controlled. A vapor generating unit generates vapor of a treatment liquid. A fluid connection between the treatment chamber and the vapor generating unit feeds vapor to the treatment chamber and returns condensate back to the treatment chamber. A pressure equalizing device transfers waste air at atmospheric pressure and equalizes pressure with the atmospheric pressure during treatment. The pressure equalizing device retains vapor and prevents vapor from escaping into the atmosphere. A vapor phase is generated by heating a treatment liquid to its boiling point. The treatment liquid includes a solvent that dissolves or solubilizes the plastic. The article is exposed to the vapor phase for a predetermined time and removed from the vapor phase. Residual treatment liquid present on the article is removed.

A method for nanoimprinting a pattern on an organic polymer substrate, comprising: (a) preparing a soft operational mold, the operational mold comprising a pattern to be replicated to the substrate; (b) soaking the operational mold in a solvent to produce diffusion of solvent to the mold; (c) removing the operational mold from the solvent, and placing it on a surface of the organic polymer substrate to form a structure, and simultaneously (i) heating the structure to a temperature T<Tg, where Tg is the glass transition temperature of the organic polymer; and (ii) applying controlled pressure in a range of 20-300 psi on the mold to effect a penetration into the surface of the organic polymer substrate, thereby to replicate the pattern of the mold to the surface of the substrate; and (d) separating the operational mold from the patterned substrate.

A method of manufacturing a modified liquid crystal polymer includes: providing a liquid crystal polymer having a first melting point; heating the liquid crystal polymer to a first temperature and maintaining at the first temperature for a first time period, in which the first temperature is lower than or equal to the first melting point; and cooling the liquid crystal polymer to a second temperature to form a first modified liquid crystal polymer, the second temperature being lower than the first temperature, the first modified liquid crystal polymer having a second melting point, in which the second melting point is higher than the first melting point.

A semi-crystalline blended polymer useful for additive manufacturing is comprised of an amorphous thermoplastic polymer and a thermoplastic semi-crystalline polymer, each of the polymers being essentially miscible in the other and being blended at a weight ratio of amorphous polymer/semi-crystalline polymer of greater that 1 to about 20. The semi-crystalline blended polymer displays a DSC melt peak enthalpy of at least about 3 joules/g. The semi-crystalline polymer may be made by blending the aforementioned polymers at the weight ratio and subject to heating between the melt temperature of the semi-crystalline polymer and the glass transition temperature of the amorphous polymer. The semi-crystalline blended polymer may revert to essentially an amorphous polymer when additive manufactured by fusing layers of said polymer powders together.

Techniques herein include methods of patterning a substrate using surface energy differences found in some fluorinated polymers or polymers with long chain alkyl functionality that promotes surface or top layer segregation in a bilayer polymer system to facilitate overburden removal when the polymer mixture is deposited over a relief pattern. The method allows for fast removal of the overburden to expose the anti-spacer region which, after acid diffusion and subsequent deprotection, is also soluble in a developer. Incorporating the highly developer-soluble polymer at the top of the top layer removes the need for the remaining polymer to have a specific dissolution rate in developer.

It is provided that a method for producing a biaxially oriented polyester film that can be used for industrial and packaging applications. A method for producing a biaxially oriented polyester film, comprising: a step of feeding a polyester resin into an extruder, a step of extruding the molten polyester resin from an extruder to obtain a molten resin sheet at 250 to 310° C., a step of attaching the molten resin sheet closely to a cooling roll by an electrostatic application method to obtain an unstretched sheet, and a step of biaxially stretching the unstretched sheet, wherein the polyester resin fulfills the following (A) to (C): (A) the polyester resin comprises a polyethylene furandicarboxylate resin composed of a furandicarboxylic acid and ethylene glycol; (B) an intrinsic viscosity of the polyester resin is 0.50 dL/g or more; (C) a melt specific resistance value at 250° C. of the polyester resin is 3.0×10.sup.7 Ω.Math.cm or less.

The invention provides a method for manufacturing a 3D item (10) with a fused deposition modeling 3D printer, the method comprising (a) providing a thermoplastic material (20), wherein the thermoplastic material (20) comprises a first polymer (21) of the semi-crystalline type, wherein the first polymer (21) has a glass temperature (T.sub.g) and wherein the thermoplastic material (20) has a melting temperature (T.sub.m); generating in a generation stage an intermediate 3D printed item (110) by printing the thermoplastic material (20), wherein the thermoplastic material (20) is heated to a temperature equal to or above the melting temperature (T.sub.m), while maintaining during printing an ambient temperature (T.sub.a) to the intermediate 3D printed item under construction below the glass temperature (T.sub.g); and generating in an annealing stage said 3D item (10) by heating the intermediate 3D printed item (110) equal to or above the glass temperature (T.sub.g).