The present invention comprises a method for forming a golf ball comprising synthesizing an acid copolymer using controlled radical polymerization, mixing the acid copolymer with a monomer containing a carbon-carbon double bond, creating a mixture and neutralizing the mixture with a metallic base, forming an ionomeric thermoplastic elastomer for use in a cover layer for a golf ball.

The invention relates to a defoamer composition. The invention also relates to a method for reducing or preventing foam in an aqueous composition. The defoamer composition of the invention comprises at least one hydrophobic liquid; and at least one modified polyacrylate polymer. The modified polyacrylate polymer is obtainable by a process comprising 1. polymerizing at least one acrylate monomer selected from substituted or unsubstituted C.sub.1-C.sub.22 alkyl acrylates, substituted or unsubstituted C.sub.4-C.sub.22 cycloalkyl acrylates, substituted or unsubstituted C.sub.1-C.sub.22 acrylamides, esters of acrylic acid with polyalkylether alcohol, or combinations of two or more thereof, to obtain at least one polyacrylate polymer; and 2. modifying the at least one polyacrylate polymer obtained in step (i) by transesterification with at least one alcohol selected from (c1) at least one unsubstituted C.sub.8-C.sub.36 alcohol, (c2) at least one polyalkylether alcohol, or combinations of two or more thereof.

Disclosed herein are a modified high cis polydiene polymer, processes for preparing the modified high cis polydiene polymer, and tire rubber compositions containing the modified high cis polydiene polymer. The processes make use of a functionalizing compound of formula I or formula II and a coupling agent to prepare the modified high cis polydiene polymer from a quantity of conjugated diene monomer polymerized using a lanthanide-based catalyst system. The modified high cis polydiene polymer includes at least one polymer chain having a residue from the functionalizing compound and a residue from the coupling agent and can be utilized in tire rubber compositions in combination with other ingredients such as fillers.

The present invention provides a pigment dispersant that exhibits high fine dispersibility, stability, and fluidity in a small amount, a pigment dispersion liquid including the pigment dispersant, and a process of producing the pigment dispersant and pigment dispersion liquid. The pigment dispersant contains as a main component, a graft copolymer formed through living radical polymerization using two or more monomers including a methacrylate A having an acidic group or a basic group and a methacrylate-based macromonomer B having a methacrylate residue at one terminal of a particular polymer chain that has a molecular weight of from 500 to 5000. A ratio of a total molar number of the methacrylate-based monomers relative to 1 mol of a polymerization-initiating compound in the raw material monomers is from 20 to 50 based on 1 mol. A ratio of the B component-derived polymer chain to the graft copolymer is from 50 to 90 mass % expressed as a mass ratio.

The invention concerns a method for preparing block copolymers, comprising a step of controlled free-radical copolymerisation of trifluoroethylene with at least one additional monomer, different from trifluoroethylene, in the presence of a chain transfer agent, said chain transfer agent being a xanthate compound, a trithiocarbonate compound or a monoiodide compound. The invention also concerns the block copolymers likely to be obtained by this method.

To provide: an electrolyte material having high oxygen permeability as compared with conventional ones; a membrane electrode assembly for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell excellent in power generation characteristics as compared with conventional ones; a liquid composition suitable for forming a catalyst layer for the membrane electrode assembly; and a fluorinated branched polymer useful as e.g. a raw material of the electrolyte material. The electrolyte material comprises a fluoropolymer (H)1 having a structural unit (u1) that has an ionic group and a structural unit (u2) that has an alicyclic structure, wherein the fluoropolymer (H)1 is composed of a branched molecular chain, and has a segment (A)3 comprising a molecular chain having the structural unit (u1) and a segment (B)2 composed of a molecular chain having the structural unit (u2), and the ion exchange capacity of the segment (B)2 is smaller than the ion exchange capacity of the segment (A)3.

Disclosed is a method for formation of block copolymers using a Single Electron Transfer Living Radical Polymerization (SET-LRP) process. The process can be used to form di and tri-block copolymers from vinyl monomers. In one embodiment the SET-LRP process comprises initially forming a macroinitiator using SET-LRP to form a first block of a di or tri-block copolymer and then using SET-LRP to form additional blocks of the copolymer. The produced block copolymers have very narrow polydispersity indexes and controlled molecular weights. The process permits incorporation of photoinitiators in any of the block formation reactions. The method also includes purification processes that result in a block copolymer having very low color making it useful in a variety of applications. In one application block copolymers prepared according to the present process can be used in hot-melt adhesives.

The present invention includes a first raw material feeding unit, a second raw material feeding unit, a reactor unit, and a controller configured to control the amount of a first raw material being fed from the first raw material feeding unit to the reactor unit, the amount of a second raw material being fed from the second raw material feeding unit to the reactor unit, the temperature of the first raw material being fed from the first raw material feeding unit to the reactor unit, and the temperature of the second raw material being fed from the second raw material feeding unit to the reactor unit. The first raw material is raw material monomer solution containing a raw material monomer. The second raw material is polymerization initiator solution containing a polymerization initiator. A reaction product is polymer compound resulting from a living anionic polymerization reaction of the raw material monomer.

A process for anionically polymerizing a (meth)acrylic acid in the presence of a tertiary organoaluminum compound (A), an organolithium compound (B) and at least one kind of a Lewis base (C) in a polymerization system. The tertiary organoaluminum compound (A) includes a tertiary organoaluminum compound (A1) having a chemical structure in which at least two of three unshared electrons of an aluminum atom are bonded to an aromatic ring via an oxygen atom, and the tertiary organoaluminum compound (A) has a molar ratio (A2)/(A1) in the range of 0% or above and 0.8% or below between a tertiary organoaluminum compound (A2) having a chemical structure in which at most one of three unshared electrons of an aluminum atom is bonded to an aromatic ring via an oxygen atom, and the tertiary organoaluminum compound (A1).

Provided is a low-cost, highly active, environmentally friendly living radical polymerization catalyst which does not require a radical initiator. An organic compound having an oxidation-reduction capability is used as a catalyst. Even if a radical initiator is not used, a monomer can be subjected to a radical polymerization to obtain a polymer having narrow molecular weight distribution. The cost of the living radical polymerization can be remarkably reduced. It is made possible to prevent adverse effects of using a radical initiator. The present invention is significantly more environmentally friendly and economically excellent than conventional living radical polymerization methods, due to advantages of the catalyst such as low toxicity of the catalyst, low amount of the catalyst necessary, high solubility of the catalyst, mild reaction conditions, and no coloration/no odor (which do not require a post-treatment for a molded article), etc.