A composite foam is provided having silica aerogel particles dispersed in a closed cell polymeric foam. The silica aerogel particles are included in a volume fraction between 2 and 60%, and the composite foam has a thermal conductivity of 40 mW/m?K or less and a density of 60 kg/m.sup.3 or less. In another embodiment, a composite foam is provided having a perforated closed cell polymeric foam and 2-60% hydrophobic silica aerogel particles by volume with a particle size distribution of 1 to 50 ?m, where the composite foam has a thermal conductivity of 30 mW/m?K or less, a density of 20-45 kg/m.sup.3, and an air permeability of 20-40 cubic feet per minute.

The present invention has as its object the provision of a method of bonding substrates, which can bond two substrates, at least one of which has warpage and undulation of a bonding surface, in a high adhesion state and a method of producing a microchip. In the method of bonding substrates according to the present invention, the first substrate is formed of a material having a deformable temperature at which the substrate deforms and which is higher than a deformable temperature of the second substrate, the method includes: a surface activation step of activating each of bonding surfaces of the first substrate and the second substrate; a stacking step of stacking the first substrate and the second substrate so that the respective bonding surfaces thereof are in contact with each other; and a deforming step of deforming the bonding surface of the second substrate to conform to a shape of the bonding surface of the first substrate, and the deforming step is performed by heating the stacked body of the first substrate and the second substrate obtained in the stacking step at a temperature not lower than the deformable temperature of the second substrate and lower than the deformable temperature of the first substrate.

An optical resin composition from which a film with improved adhesion to a polyvinyl alcohol-based film and improved flex resistance can be obtained while keeping high film transparency. The optical resin composition includes: 99 to 50% by weight of an acrylic resin having a glass transition temperature of not lower than 110 C.; and 1 to 50% by weight of a particulate (meth)acrylic multilayer structure graft copolymer containing: an innermost layer made of a polymer containing a methacrylic acid ester as a first monomer; a middle layer made of a polymer containing, as a second monomer, an acrylic acid alkyl ester having an alkyl group with 4 to 12 carbon atoms; and an outermost layer made of a polymer containing a methacrylic acid ester as a third monomer. A graft ratio of the (meth)acrylic multilayer structure graft copolymer is not less than 110%.

To provide a disposable diaper enabling reduction in re-wet amount and having an excellent speed of incorporating liquid regardless of concentration and configuration of a water-absorbing agent in an absorbent material. A water-absorbing agent having excellent Gel Capillary Absorption (GCA) and Free Gel Bed Permeability (FGBP) is obtained by crushing a crosslinked hydrogel polymer obtained in a polymerization step to have a specific weight average particle diameter while fluid retention capacity and a surface tension of a water-absorbing agent are adjusted in a specific range, drying the crushed crosslinked hydrogel polymer, and then adding a liquid permeability enhancer thereto during surface crosslinking or after surface crosslinking.

A graded-index optical element may include a nanovoided material including a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface. The nanovoided material may be transparent between the first surface and the second surface. Additionally, the nanovoided material may have a predefined change in effective refractive index in at least one axis due to a change in at least one of nanovoid size or nanovoid distribution along the at least one axis. Various other elements, devices, systems, materials, and methods are also disclosed.

A hydrogel sensor device can include a crosslinked hydrogel network having a first affinity ligand and a second affinity ligand positioned and configured to concurrently and reversibly bind to a common target molecule. The crosslinked hydrogel network can be further configured to decrease in volume with concurrent binding of the common target molecule. Generally, one or both of the first affinity ligand and the second affinity ligand are at least one of a protein, a peptide, and a synthetic biomimetic ligand. The hydrogel sensor device can also include a detector positioned to detect a change in volume of the crosslinked hydrogel network.

The present invention has as its object the provision of a method of bonding substrates, which can bond two substrates, at least one of which has warpage and undulation of a bonding surface, in a high adhesion state and a method of producing a microchip.

In the method of bonding substrates according to the present invention, the first substrate is formed of a material having a deformable temperature at which the substrate deforms and which is higher than a deformable temperature of the second substrate, the method includes: a surface activation step of activating each of bonding surfaces of the first substrate and the second substrate; a stacking step of stacking the first substrate and the second substrate so that the respective bonding surfaces thereof are in contact with each other; and a deforming step of deforming the bonding surface of the second substrate to conform to a shape of the bonding surface of the first substrate, and the deforming step is performed by heating the stacked body of the first substrate and the second substrate obtained in the stacking step at a temperature not lower than the deformable temperature of the second substrate and lower than the deformable temperature of the first substrate.

A nanovoided polymer-based material may include a bulk polymer material defining a plurality of nanovoids and an interfacial film disposed at an interface between each of the plurality of nanovoids and the bulk polymer material. The interfacial film may include one or more layers of material. A method of forming a nanovoided polymer-based material may include (1) forming a bulk polymer material defining a plurality of nanovoids and (2) forming an interfacial film at an interface between each of the plurality of nanovoids and the bulk polymer material. Various other methods, systems, and materials are also disclosed.

A method for dielectrically heating foamable composition to foam and set the composition is described. In particular, radio frequency (RF) heating is used to heat the foamable composition to provide insulation in the manufacture of an article.

Provided is a laminate including: a base material; and an anti-fogging layer provided on at least a part of the base material, in which the anti-fogging layer contains a siloxane binder, silica particles, and a water absorption organic polymer, the anti-fogging layer has a structure in which the silica particles are deposited, an irregular structure due to the silica particles is formed on a surface of the anti-fogging layer, and voids are formed inside the anti-fogging layer, a film density of the anti-fogging layer is in a range of 0.80 g/cm.sup.3 to 1.40 g/cm.sup.3, and a film thickness of the anti-fogging layer is in a range of more than 1 m and 10 m or less.