Methods and equipment for the recycling of carpet are disclosed that produce a clean fiber product suitable for industrial use. The methods allow the recovery of face fiber material, for example a polyester, polyolefin, or a polyamide, from carpets that includes a face fiber material, a polypropylene backing material, and an adhesive, and include the steps of mechanically impacting the carpet to break the bonds between the adhesive and the fibrous components, treating the fibrous components to remove adhesive granules from the fibrous components, and optionally separating the polypropylene backing from the face fiber. A clean adhesive/calcium carbonate product can also be produced from this process.

A push-in earplug is provided. The push-in earplug comprises an elongate core comprising a core material. The push-in earplug also comprises an outer layer comprising a foam material, the outer layer covering at least a portion of an outer surface of the elongate core. The push-in earplug also comprises a channel extending through the elongate core from a first end of the elongate core to the second end of the elongate core.

An example starch-based material for forming a biodegradable component includes a mixture of a starch and an expansion additive. The starch has an amylose content of less than about 70% by weight. The expansion additive enhances the expansion and physical properties of the starch. A method of preparing a starch-based material is also disclosed and an alternate starch-based material for forming a biodegradable component is also disclosed.

An object comprising: a blend of (i) a phenol-containing polymer and (ii) a nitrile butadiene rubber; wherein the phenol-containing polymer is present in an amount of at least 5 wt % and up to about 95 wt % by total weight of components (i) and (ii). The object may further contain an electrically conducting component dispersed within the blend or on a surface of the blend. Also described is a method of thermal-activated reversible mechanical deformation of the object by (i) deforming the object at a first temperature, which is at or above the glass transition temperature of the object, and applying a stress on the object; (ii) fixing the deformed state by cooling the object to a second temperature of no more than 0° C. while under stress, and removing the stress; and (iii) recovering the object to the original shape by raising the temperature of the object to the first temperature.

A curable composition comprising a fluorinated amorphous fluoropolymer, and a blend of polysulfonamide and polyol crosslinking agents.

Methods and apparatus for curing a substrate or polymer using variable microwave frequency are provided herein. In some embodiments, a method of curing a substrate or polymer using variable microwave frequency includes: contacting a substrate or polymer with a plurality of predetermined discontinuous microwave energy bandwidths or a plurality of predetermined discontinuous microwave energy frequencies to cure the substrate or polymer.

A plastic article is recited having a plastic shell including walls defining a cavity. Within the cavity is an in-situ foam core including expanded polymer beads. A layer of the expanded polymer beads includes a layer of distorted beads adjacent to the walls. The in-situ foam core has a thermal bond to the walls.

A mold for in-mold foam-molding of a polyolefin-based resin for producing a molded article includes a first mold part, a second mold part, and a divided mold that holds an insert material, wherein the insert material has a protrusion part, the divided mold is formed on the first and the second mold parts in correspondence with the protrusion part of the insert material, the first mold part has a first holding surface, the second mold part has a divided mold member having a second holding surface and a biasing part that guides the divided mold member movably in the mold opening/closing direction and constantly biases the divided mold member toward the first holding surface, and the base portion of the protrusion part of the insert material is configured for being held between the first and second holding surfaces by the divided mold.

A glazing having switchable optical properties is described, including a transparent substrate having an outer surface and an inner surface, a reflection layer on the outer surface and/or on the inner surface and a switchable functional element arranged on the interior side with respect to the reflection layer. The reflection layer contains a material having a refractive index n.sub.R of 1.6 to 2.5. The product of the refractive index n.sub.R and the thickness d of the reflection layer is from 250 nm to 960 nm.

The present invention is to provide a thermoplastic resin composition capable of obtaining a molded article that is excellent in appearance after laser welding and a color tone and has sufficient impact property as a resin member. In addition, the present invention is to provide a molded article that is excellent in appearance after laser welding and a color tone and has sufficient impact resistance as a resin member. As a result of intensive studies, the present inventors have found that the above problems can be solved by controlling a thermoplastic resin composition containing rubber-containing graft copolymer to have appropriate reflectance in the visible light and absorptivity in the near-infrared region, and have completed the present invention.