A molded bale of a rubber-like block copolymer, the rubber-like block copolymer containing 5% by mass or more and 95% by mass or less of a polymer block (a) having a content of a vinyl aromatic monomer unit of 22% by mass or less; and 5% by mass or more and 95% by mass or less of a polymer block (b) having a content of a vinyl aromatic monomer unit of 23% by mass or more and less than 50% by mass, in which the rubber-like block copolymer has an iodine value of 10 to 250, an ethylene structure content of 3% by mass or more, and a vinyl aromatic monomer block content of less than 10% by mass.

New hydrogenated styrenic block copolymers, in particular styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene copolymers (SEBS copolymers), with improved performance in thermoplastic elastomer compositions (TPE compositions), process for preparing said hydrogenated styrenic block copolymers, reprocessable TPE-S compositions made thereof, method for producing an article from said reprocessable TPE-S compositions and articles made of said reprocessable TPE-S compositions, in particular suitable for medical applications.

New hydrogenated styrenic block copolymers, in particular styrene-ethylene/butylene-styrene copolymers (SEBS copolymers), with improved performance in thermoplastic elastomer compositions (TPE compositions), process for preparing said hydrogenated styrenic block copolymers, reprocessable TPE-S compositions made thereof, method for producing an article from said reprocessable TPE-S compositions and articles made of said reprocessable TPE-S compositions, in particular suitable for medical applications.

A binder composition for a non-aqueous secondary battery contains water-soluble macromolecules, water, and a particulate polymer formed of a polymer that includes a block region formed of an aromatic vinyl monomer unit. The surface acid content of the particulate polymer is 0.02 mmol/g or more, and the content of components having a molecular weight of not less than 1,000 and less than 15,000 among the water-soluble macromolecules is not less than 0.01 parts by mass and not more than 1.50 parts by mass per 100 parts by mass of the particulate polymer.

Provided is a hydrogenated block copolymer composition comprising a hydrogenated block copolymer A represented by General Formula (A) and a hydrogenated block copolymer B represented by General Formula (B), wherein the weight ratio (A/B) of the hydrogenated block copolymer A to the hydrogenated block copolymer B is 10/90 to 80/20, and the hydrogenation ratio of olefins in the polymer components constituting the hydrogenated block copolymer composition is 10 to 100%:

Ar1.sup.a-HD.sup.a-Ar2.sup.a  (A)

Ar1.sup.b-HD.sup.b-A2.sup.b  (B)

wherein in General Formulae (A) and (B) above, Ar1.sup.a, Ar1.sup.b, Ar2.sup.a, and Ar2.sup.b are each an aromatic vinyl polymer block, HD.sup.a and HD.sup.b are each a hydrogenated polymer block of a conjugated diene polymer, and the ratio (Mw(Ar2.sup.a)/Mw(Ar1.sup.a)) of the weight average molecular weight of Ar2.sup.a (Mw(Ar2.sup.a)) to the weight average molecular weight of Ar1.sup.a (Mw(Ar1.sup.a)) is 2.6 to 66.

Provided is a hydrogenated block copolymer composition comprising a hydrogenated block copolymer A represented by General Formula (A) and a hydrogenated block copolymer B represented by General Formula (B), wherein the weight ratio (A/B) of the hydrogenated block copolymer A to the hydrogenated block copolymer B is 10/90 to 80/20, and the hydrogenation ratio of olefins in the polymer components constituting the hydrogenated block copolymer composition is 10 to 100%:

Ar1.sup.a-HD.sup.a-Ar2.sup.a  (A)

Ar1.sup.b-HD.sup.b-A2.sup.b  (B)

wherein in General Formulae (A) and (B) above, Ar1.sup.a, Ar1.sup.b, Ar2.sup.a, and Ar2.sup.b are each an aromatic vinyl polymer block, HD.sup.a and HD.sup.b are each a hydrogenated polymer block of a conjugated diene polymer, and the ratio (Mw(Ar2.sup.a)/Mw(Ar1.sup.a)) of the weight average molecular weight of Ar2.sup.a (Mw(Ar2.sup.a)) to the weight average molecular weight of Ar1.sup.a (Mw(Ar1.sup.a)) is 2.6 to 66.

ABS molding composition comprising: (a) 50 to 80 wt.-% SAN copolymer (a) (S/AN ratio 78:22 to 65:35, M.sub.w 80,000 to 250,000); (b) 8 to 25 wt.-% graft copolymer (b) consisting of 15 to 60 wt.-% graft sheath (b2) and 40 to 85 wt.-% graft substrate—an agglomerated butadiene rubber latex—(b1), obtained by emulsion polymerization of SAN in presence of agglomerated butadiene rubber latex (b1) (D.sub.50 150 to 800 nm); and (c) 8 to 30 wt.-% SBC block copolymer (vinylarene 58 to 68 wt.-%) comprising diene/vinylarene tapered polymer blocks; exhibiting ultra-high flow melt with good mechanical properties, a process for their preparation and their use for the production of bulky and/or thin walled articles.

Provided is a binder composition for a non-aqueous secondary battery electrode that can form an electrode having excellent peel strength and heat resistance and that can reduce internal resistance of a non-aqueous secondary battery. The binder composition for a non-aqueous secondary battery electrode contains water and a particulate polymer formed of a polymer that includes a block region formed of an aromatic vinyl monomer unit and that includes either or both of an aliphatic conjugated diene monomer unit and an alkylene structural unit. The particulate polymer has a volume-average particle diameter of not less than 0.1 μm and less than 0.9 μm and has a particle size distribution of not less than 3 and not more than 10.

Provided is a block copolymer containing 10 mass % or more of a polymer (A1) having a multi-branched structure having four or more polymer chains, the polymer chain having a polymer block A containing 70 mass % or more of a structural unit derived from a conjugated diene compound and a polymer block B containing 70 mass % or more of a structural unit derived from an aromatic vinyl compound, the block copolymer having a functional group F containing at least one element selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, silicon, oxygen, and sulfur in a part or all of terminals of the four or more polymer chains, and the block copolymer having a value α of 0.75 or more represented by the following equation (i), when p, q, r, and s are defined as component proportions (molar proportions) of structural unit represented by the following formula (1) to formula (4), in the polymer, respectively.

##STR00001##

Provided is a block polymer including two or more polymer block As each having a value β of 0.20 or less and a functional group F containing at least one element selected from a group consisting of nitrogen, silicon, oxygen, and sulfur in a part or all of terminals of the two or more polymer block As, in which the block polymer has a value α of 0.75 or more, when p, q, r and s are defined as a component proportion (molar proportion) of a structural unit represented by Formula (1), a component proportion of a structural unit represented by Formula (2), a component proportion of a structural unit represented by Formula (3), and a component proportion of a structural unit represented by Formula (4), in the polymer, respectively.

##STR00001##