A polymer of hyaluronic acid modified by the grafting thereto of at least one of the functions SO.sub.3 and aromatic rings may be used as dopant for a polymer formed from one or monomers chosen from EDOT, ProDOT, and derivatives thereof. An aqueous suspension, or ink, and materials, in particular hydrogels, based on at least one PEDOT and/or PProDOT polymer may be doped by at least one such modified hyaluronic acid polymer. Such modified hyaluronic acid polymers may be used in bioelectronic or biosensor devices.

A method of preparing a plastic substrate for electrostatic painting includes preparing a carbon nanotube pellet by molding carbon nanotube powder. The method also includes preparing a conductive resin composition by mixing 0.1 to 10 wt % of the carbon nanotube pellet, 0.1 to 20 wt % of carbon black, and 70 to 99 wt % of a thermoplastic polymer resin. The method further includes molding the conductive resin composition.

The present invention is concerned with expanded beads that are olefin-based thermoplastic elastomer expanded beads containing a coloring agent, wherein an apparent density of the expanded beads is 40 to 300 g/L, and an average surface layer membrane thickness (a) is 3 to 25 m, and a molded article thereof, and is able to provide expanded beads capable of producing an expanded beads molded article which is excellent in in-mold moldability and excellent in tensile characteristics and an expanded beads molded article using the expanded beads.

Pellets of an acrylic block copolymer are provided which are imparted with sufficient antiblocking properties without deterioration in the outstanding performance of the acrylic block copolymer such as transparency. A method for producing pellets (D) including an acrylic block copolymer (A) includes bringing raw pellets of an acrylic block copolymer (A) into contact with an aqueous dispersion (C) containing acrylic resin particles (B) and no surfactants, the acrylic block copolymer (A) including at least one polymer block (a1) including acrylic acid alkyl ester units and at least one polymer block (a2) including methacrylic acid alkyl ester units, and removing water attached to the pellets.

A non-humidified proton-conductive membrane according to the present invention includes a polymer and a proton-conductive substance. The polymer includes a glassy or crystalline first site having a glass-transition temperature or melting temperature higher than the service temperature of the proton-conductive membrane and a second site capable of forming a noncovalent bond. The proton-conductive substance includes a proton-releasing/binding site capable of noncovalently binding to the second site of the polymer and a proton coordination site capable of coordinating to protons, the proton-releasing/binding site and the proton coordination site being included in different molecules that interact with each other or being included in the same molecule. A proton-conductive mixed phase that includes the second site to which the proton-releasing/binding site of the proton-conductive substance is bound and the proton-conductive substance is lower than the service temperature of the proton-conductive membrane. The amount of the proton-releasing/binding site is excessively large compared with the amount of the second site of the polymer.

A reinforcing carbon fiber sheet (1) of the present invention includes: a carbon fiber filament (2) group arrayed in parallel in one direction; and a thermoplastic adhesive (4) present on at least part of the carbon fiber filament group in a direction across the carbon fiber filament group to unite the carbon fiber filament group. Preferably, the reinforcing sheet (1) includes a minimum amount of the carbon fibers required to produce a reinforcing effect. A sizing layer (3) of an epoxy-based resin is present on the surface of the carbon fiber filaments (2), and has a high affinity for the thermoplastic adhesive layer (4) present thereon, so that they strongly adhere to each other. Thus, the present invention provides a reinforcing carbon fiber sheet that is thin, has good handling properties and easily adheres to a substance to be reinforced.

Disclosed herein is a foam composition comprising an olefin copolymer that comprises ethylene and an ?-olefin or propylene and an ?-olefin; an ionomer that comprises copolymer of ethylene and a carboxylic acid; where the ionomer is neutralized with a metal ion; a crosslinking agent; and a blowing agent. Disclosed herein is a method of manufacturing a foam composition comprising blending together an olefin copolymer that comprises ethylene and an ?-olefin or propylene and an ?-olefin; an ionomer that comprises copolymer of ethylene and a carboxylic acid; where the ionomer is neutralized with a metal ion; a crosslinking agent; and a blowing agent to form the foam composition; heating the composition to activate the blowing agent; and crosslinking the composition.

A method for producing a multilayer film including a substrate and an optically anisotropic layer, the method comprising; a step of coating a surface of the substrate with a liquid crystal composition containing a polymerizable liquid crystal compound capable of expressing an inverse wavelength dispersion birefringence to form a layer of the liquid crystal composition; and a step of polymerizing the polymerizable liquid crystal compound contained in the layer of the liquid crystal composition to obtain an optically anisotropic layer, wherein the surface of the substrate has a surface free energy of 50 mN/m or less, and the liquid crystal composition has a surface tension of 26 mN/m or more.

A method of preparing a plastic substrate for electrostatic painting includes preparing a carbon nanotube pellet by molding carbon nanotube powder. The method also includes preparing a conductive resin composition by mixing 0.1 to 10 wt % of the carbon nanotube pellet, 0.1 to 20 wt % of carbon black, and 70 to 99 wt % of a thermoplastic polymer resin. The method further includes molding the conductive resin composition.