A piezoelectric capacitor includes A) a composite article that has 1) a dry piezoelectric layer (dry PL); 2) a first dry electrode comprising a dry electrically-conductive layer arranged contiguously with a first opposing surface of the dry PL; and 3) a second dry electrode arranged contiguously with a second opposing surface of the dry PL. The dry electrically-conductive layer has essentially (a) an electrically-conductive material; and (b) particles having a Young's modulus that is different from the Young's modulus of the (a) electrically-conductive material by at least 10%. The capacitor also has B) electrical communication means attached to both electrodes for electrical communication of the composite article with an external electrical circuit.

The present disclosure provides a process for producing a polymer, said process comprising polymerising a monomer system comprising a compound of formula: Ar—O—Ar—C(═O)—X—C(═O)—Ar—O—Ar in a reaction medium comprising a Lewis acid where: X is an aliphatic moiety and Ar is an aromatic moiety.

A microfluidic movement control method utilizing light, a device, and a microtubule actuator (2). The microtubule actuator (2) is prepared by utilizing a light-induced deformed smart polymer material. The smart polymer material forms, by an exciting beam, asymmetrical deformation, and is induced to produce a capillary action to drive a microfluid movement. The embodiment can drive microfluids having various polarities and compositions, and can drive creep of the microfluid, and can even drive the microfluid to generate a 3D movement trail. The embodiment has found a wide range of potential applications in controllable microfluidic transport, micro-reaction systems, micro-mechanic systems, IC laboratories, and others.

Described herein are associative polymers capable of controlling a physical and/or chemical property of non-polar compositions and related compositions, methods and systems. Associative polymers herein described have a non-polar backbone and functional groups presented at ends of the non-polar backbone, with a number of the functional groups presented at the ends of the non-polar backbone formed by associative functional groups capable of undergoing an associative interaction with another associative functional group with an association constant (k) such that the strength of each associative interaction is less than the strength of a covalent bond between atoms and in particular less than the strength of a covalent bond between backbone atoms.

A method to produce ##STR00001##

Described herein are compositions having an eight-membered monocyclic unsaturated hydrocarbon, methods and system to separate the eight-membered monocyclic unsaturated hydrocarbon at from a hydrocarbon mixture including additional nonlinear unsaturated C.sub.8H.sub.2m hydrocarbons with 4≤m≤8, by contacting the hydrocarbon mixture with a 10-ring pore molecular sieve having a sieving channel with a 10-ring sieving aperture with a minimum crystallographic free diameter greater than 3 Å and a ratio of the maximum crystallographic free diameter to the minimum crystallographic free diameter between 1 and 2, the molecular sieve having a T1/T2 ratio ≥20:1 wherein T1 is an element independently selected from Si and Ge, and T2 is an element independently selected from Al, B and Ga, the 10-ring pore molecular sieve further having a counterion selected from NH.sub.4.sup.+, Li.sup.+, Na.sup.+, K.sup.+ and Ca.sup.++.

1) Hydrocarbon-based copolymer comprising two end groups preceded by an ester function and chosen from a 2-oxo-1,3-dioxolan-4-yl (or cyclocarbonate), a dithiocyclocarbonate, an exo-vinylene cyclocarbonate and a 2-oxo-1,3-dioxolen-4-yl, the main chain of which comprises units (I) and (II) ##STR00001## in which R.sup.0 is notably a methyl radical; and the number-average molecular mass Mn of which is between 400 and 100 000 g/mol. 2) Process for preparing said copolymer, comprising: (i) a step of heating a statistical bipolymer A chosen from a poly(butadiene-isoprene), a poly(butadiene-myrcene) and a poly(butadiene-farnesene); and then (ii) a step of heating the product formed, in the presence of a chain-transfer agent. 3) Use as adhesive, as a mixture with an amine compound comprising at least two amine groups.

Described herein are associative polymers capable of controlling a physical and/or chemical property of non-polar compositions that can be used when the non-polar composition is in a flow, and related compositions, methods and systems. Associative polymers herein described have a non-polar backbone with a longest span having a molecular weight that remains substantially unchanged under the flow conditions and functional groups presented at ends of the non-polar backbone, with a number of the functional groups presented at the ends of the non-polar backbone formed by associative functional groups capable of undergoing an associative interaction with another associative functional group with an association constant (k) such that the strength of each associative interaction is less than the strength of a covalent bond between atoms and in particular less than the strength of a covalent bond between backbone atoms.

1) Hydrocarbon-based copolymer comprising two end groups preceded by an ether function and chosen from a 2-oxo-1,3-dioxolan-4-yl (or cyclocarbonate), a dithiocyclocarbonate, and a 2-oxo-1,3-dioxolen-4-yl, the main chain of which comprises units (I) and (II) ##STR00001## in which R.sup.0 is notably a methyl radical; and the number-average molecular mass Mn of which is between 400 and 100 000 g/mol. 2) Process for preparing said copolymer, comprising: (i) a step of heating a statistical bipolymer A chosen from a poly(butadiene-isoprene), a poly(butadiene-myrcene) and a poly(butadiene-farnesene); and then (ii) a step of heating the product formed, in the presence of a chain-transfer agent. 3) Use as adhesive, as a mixture with an amine compound comprising at least two amine groups.

A cyclopentene ring-opening copolymer having a branch structure contains a structure in which at least four cyclopentene ring-opening polymer chains are linked via a branch-structural unit. At least part of the cyclopentene ring-opening polymer chains is terminally modified.