The present invention relates to a method for producing a hydrogenated block copolymer, including the steps of: (a) forming a block copolymer by allowing a living polymer having a specific structure to react with a tetra- or more functional silane coupling agent; (b) hydrogenating the block copolymer to form a hydrogenated block copolymer; (c) isolating the resultant hydrogenated block copolymer; and (d) deactivating a functional group in the silane coupling agent and/or an unreacted functional group present in a coupling agent residue in the block copolymer or the hydrogenated block copolymer prior to the step (c), in which the number of functional groups derived from the coupling agent in the hydrogenated block copolymer recovered in the step (c) is 1.5 or less per block copolymer molecule; a hydrogenated block copolymer obtained by the method; and a composition containing the hydrogenated block copolymer.

The present invention relates to methods of forming star polymers having configurable architecture in which arms are synthesized by means of living anionic polymerization, with the arms being conjugated with a core, the core comprising m coupling groups, each coupling group having n methylene groups. The invention further relates to star polymers produced therefrom.

A resin composition or the like may exhibit high vibration damping properties even at a relatively high temperature, have good moldability, and have excellent impact resistance. The resin composition contains a thermoplastic resin (A), a thermoplastic resin (B), and a polar resin (C), wherein the resin composition satisfies (1) to (3): (1) the thermoplastic resin (B) has at least one of a reactive functional group and a monomer unit containing a hetero atom; (2) the thermoplastic resin (A) and the thermoplastic resin (B) are different types of resins; (3) with respect to the total mass of the resin composition, the content of the thermoplastic resin (A) is 1 to 30% by mass, the content of the thermoplastic resin (B) is 1 to 30% by mass, and the content of the polar resin (C) is 40 to 98% by mass.

A resin composition or the like may exhibit high vibration damping properties even at a relatively high temperature, have good moldability, and have excellent impact resistance. The resin composition contains a thermoplastic resin (A), a thermoplastic resin (B), and a polar resin (C), wherein the resin composition satisfies (1) to (3): (1) the thermoplastic resin (B) has at least one of a reactive functional group and a monomer unit containing a hetero atom; (2) the thermoplastic resin (A) and the thermoplastic resin (B) are different types of resins; (3) with respect to the total mass of the resin composition, the content of the thermoplastic resin (A) is 1 to 30% by mass, the content of the thermoplastic resin (B) is 1 to 30% by mass, and the content of the polar resin (C) is 40 to 98% by mass.

There is provided a block copolymer A which is represented by a following general formula (I), wherein a ratio ((Ar.sup.1-D.sup.1)/D.sup.2) of a mass of a branched chain represented by Ar.sup.1-D.sup.1 to a mass of a branched chain represented by D.sup.2 is 1.0/0.15 to 1.0/1.75,

(Ar.sup.1-D.sup.1).sub.mX(D.sup.2).sub.n  (I) where, in the formula (I), Ar.sup.1-D.sup.1 and D.sup.2 are each a branched chain bonded to X, Ar.sup.1 is an aromatic monovinyl polymer block, D.sup.1 and D.sup.2 are each a conjugated diene polymer block, “m” is an integer of 1 or more, “n” is an integer of 1 or more, “m”+“n” is an integer of 3 or more, and X is a residue of a polyfunctional coupling agent.

A latex of a styrene-based block copolymer includes a styrene-based block copolymer and water. The styrene-based block copolymer includes a toluene insoluble content of 30 to 95 wt %. The latex of the styrene-based block copolymer is superior in the processability and can provide a molded film such as a dip-molded product having the high tear strength, the high stress retention and the soft texture.

A latex of a styrene-based block copolymer includes a styrene-based block copolymer and water. The styrene-based block copolymer includes a toluene insoluble content of 30 to 95 wt %. The latex of the styrene-based block copolymer is superior in the processability and can provide a molded film such as a dip-molded product having the high tear strength, the high stress retention and the soft texture.

Dual composition block copolymers made from conjugated diene and monovinyl aromatic monomers in batch organolithium initiated polymerization show advantageous performance in the production of crosslinked microcellular rubber compounds and pressure sensitive hot melt adhesives. The dual composition block copolymers are partially coupled with a coupling agent linking inner monovinyl aromatic blocks. Their un-coupled low molecular weight fraction has greater monovinyl aromatic repeating unit content than their coupled high molecular weight fraction. Crosslinked microcellular rubber articles made from the dual composition block copolymers exhibit lower density, smaller and more homogeneous cell size, higher softness and higher resiliency than prior art block copolymers. Rubber compounding of formulations comprising the dual composition block copolymers proceed at slightly lower torque and slightly lower temperature than with prior art block copolymers. Pressure sensitive hot melt adhesives formulated with the dual composition block copolymers are very well suited for labels, exhibiting higher tack and higher softening temperature than those made from prior art block copolymers.

Provided is a binder composition for a non-aqueous secondary battery with which it is possible to form a functional layer that can provide a battery component such as an electrode or a separator with a balance of excellent handleability and process adhesiveness. The binder composition for a non-aqueous secondary battery contains: polymer particles containing a block polymer including a block region composed of an aromatic vinyl monomer unit; a water-soluble polymer including a hydrophilic group; and water. The block polymer has a diblock content of not less than 0 mass % and not more than 60 mass %. The water-soluble polymer has a weight-average molecular weight of not less than 15,000 and not more than 500,000.

Amphiphilic triblock copolymers, articles containing the amphiphilic triblock copolymers, and methods of making these block copolymers provided. The amphiphilic triblock copolymers contain a first block (an A block) derived from isoprene, a second block (a B block) derived from a vinyl aromatic such as styrene, and a third block (a C block) derived from butadiene that have been subjected to hydrosilylation.