The present invention relates to an acrylic process aid useful in vinyl foam extrusion. The process aid is an acrylic copolymer containing from 50 to 79 weight percent of methyl methacrylate monomer units and has a Tg of less than 90° C., preferably less than 70° C., and more preferably less than 65° C. PVC and CPVC foams containing this acrylic process aid fuse faster at the same temperature, or fuse in the same time at lower temperatures than foam formulations currently used.

Improved randomized porous structures and methods of manufacturing such porous structures are disclosed. The scaffold of the porous structures are formed from by dividing the space between a plurality of spatial coordinates of a defined volume, where the plurality of spatial coordinates have been moved in a random direction and a random finite distance according to a predetermined randomization limit.

Disclosed herein is a molded article made from two different polyurethane foam laminate materials, which displays both softness and resilience to machine washing. Also disclosed herein is a method of making said foam article.

In an aspect, provided herein are low density materials, including shell-based materials, with three-dimensional architectures formed, in part, via self-assembly processes. Shell-based materials of some embodiments exhibit a combination of ultralow density (e.g., ≤100 mg cm.sup.−3 and optionally ≤10 100 mg cm.sup.−3) and non-periodic architectures characterized by low defect densities and geometries avoiding stress concentrations. Low density shell based materials of some embodiments have architectures characterized by small curvatures and lack of straight edges providing enhance mechanical response. In some embodiments, for example, the present low density materials, including shell-based materials, providing a combination target mechanical properties including high stiffness-to-density ratios, mechanical resilience and tolerance for deformation.

A self-adhesive vapor-permeable membrane for use on a building, comprising a support that is permeable to air and water vapor, and a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer that is permeable to air and water vapor, and is secured to the underside of the support, wherein the membrane is noteworthy in that it comprises gas bubbles trapped between the support and the adhesive layer.

The present invention provides compositions and methods related to aerogel materials, including polyimide-based aerogels. In particular, aerogel materials optimized to have certain physical and chemical properties such as flexural and compressive strength are provided. In some embodiments, the aerogel materials can be at least partially carbonized.

In some examples, an article may include a substrate and a coating system on the substrate. The coating system may include a layer comprising a plurality of voids, wherein respective voids of the plurality of voids define respective void volumes; and a nucleating agent within at least some of the respective void volumes of the layer, wherein the nucleating agent is configured to induce crystallization of the molten CMAS. The coating system may include an environmental barrier coating, thermal barrier coating, and/or abradable coating.

A tire noise reduction device includes a sound absorbing member made of a porous material; and a band member disposed between the sound absorbing member and the tire inner surface and provided for attaching the sound absorbing member to a tire inner surface, the band member including chamfered portions on both surface sides at both ends in a width direction of the band member.

A microporous membrane is made by a dry-stretch process and has substantially round shaped pores and a ratio of machine direction tensile strength to transverse direction tensile strength in the range of 0.5 to 5.0. The method of making the foregoing microporous membrane includes the steps of: extruding a polymer into a nonporous precursor, and biaxially stretching the nonporous precursor, the biaxial stretching including a machine direction stretching and a transverse direction stretching, the transverse direction stretching including a simultaneous controlled machine direction relax.

A heat shield component includes a substrate, and a heat shield film arranged on the substrate. The heat shield film includes a first layer arranged on the substrate, including pores, and having a thermal conductivity of 0.3 W/(m.Math.K) or less and a volumetric specific heat of 1200 kJ/(m.sup.3.Math.K) or less, and a second layer arranged on the first layer to provide closed pores between the first layer and the second layer. The heat shield film has a surface roughness on a top surface which is 1.5 μm Ra or less. The heat shield component can achieve high heat-insulating properties and an improved effect of reducing the emission amount of hydrocarbon in an internal combustion engine, for example.