A method of making molded foam articles and the articles produced. A molded foam article is produced by heating or preheating the mold to a temperature at or above the glass transition or melt temperature of the particles to be molded. Foamed particles are then introduced into the mold. The particle filled mold is then subjected to a vacuum to stabilize the molded article, without application of any additional heating or cooling. The molded article is then removed from the mold at a temperature at or below the glass transition temperature of the particles, and the cycle repeated to form multiple molded articles.

The invention relates to micro-channeled and/or nano-channeled polymer compositions for structural and thermal insulation composites and methods of preparing the same. The composites can be tailored to achieve desired mechanical and thermal insulation properties.

A seat support element has a body that includes at least one portion having a plurality of discrete structural elements and a plurality of connecting fibers, the discrete structural elements being joined together via the connecting fibers to form the portion of the body.

In general, in various embodiments, the present disclosure is directed systems and methods for producing a porous surface from a solid piece of polymer. In particular, the present disclosure is directed to systems that include a track assembly, mold assembly, press assembly, and methods for using the same for producing a porous surface from a solid piece of polymer. In some embodiments, the present systems and methods are directed to processing a polymer at a temperature below a melting point of the polymer to produce a solid piece of polymer with an integrated a porous surface.

Multiple processes for preparing porous articles are described. The porous articles can be in a wide array of shapes and configurations. The methods include providing a soluble material in particulate form and forming a packed region from the material. The methods also include contacting a flowable polymeric material with the packed region such that the polymeric material is disposed in voids in the packed region. The polymeric material is then at least partially solidified. The soluble material is then removed such as by solvent washing to thereby produce desired porous articles. Also described are systems for performing the various processes.

Porous conductive resin is produced by: mixing a hydrogen bond donor compound and a hydrogen bond acceptor compound to produce deep eutectic liquid (DEL); adding conductive materials to the DEL to produce gel; adding resin that is insoluble in the DEL to the gel to produce ink made of the gel dispersed in the resin; forming the produced ink into a formed object having a desired shape; curing the resin in the formed object; and evaporating the DEL in the formed object including the cured resin.

In general, in various embodiments, the present disclosure is directed systems and methods for producing a porous surface from a solid piece of polymer. In particular, the present disclosure is directed to systems that include a track assembly, mold assembly, press assembly, and methods for using the same for producing a porous surface from a solid piece of polymer. In some embodiments, the present systems and methods are directed to processing a polymer at a temperature below a melting point of the polymer to produce a solid piece of polymer with an integrated a porous surface.

A porous structural body 1 is a porous structural body made of flexible resin or rubber, the porous structural body including a skeleton part 2 throughout an entirety thereof, wherein the skeleton part includes: a plurality of bone parts 2B; and a plurality of connection parts 2J that connect end portions of the plurality of bone parts, and wherein the porous structural body is configured such that a plurality of portions of the skeleton part interfere with each other when the porous structural body is compressed to deform in a predetermined weight input direction.

A method for producing a microporous material comprising the steps of: providing an ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE); providing a filler; providing a processing plasticizer; adding the filler to the UHMWPE in a mixture being in the range of from about 1:9 to about 15:1 filler to UHMWPE by weight; adding the processing plasticizer to the mixture; extruding the mixture to form a sheet from the mixture; calendering the sheet; extracting the processing plasticizer from the sheet to produce a matrix comprising UHMWPE and the filler distributed throughout the matrix; stretching the microporous material in at least one direction to a stretch ratio of at least about 1.5 to produce a stretched microporous matrix; and subsequently calendering the stretched microporous matrix to produce a microporous material which exhibits improved physical and dimensional stability properties over the stretched microporous matrix.

Methods for manufacturing articles of footwear are provided. In various aspects, the methods comprise utilizing additive manufacturing methods with foam particles. In some aspects, the additive manufacturing methods comprise increasing the temperature of a plurality of foam particles with actinic radiation under conditions effective to fuse a portion of the plurality of foam particles comprising one or more thermoplastic elastomers. Increasing the temperature of the foam particles can be carried out for one or multiple iterations. The disclosed methods can be used to manufacturer articles with sub-regions that exhibit differing degrees of fusion between the foam particles, thereby resulting in sub-regions with different properties such as density, resilience, and/or flexural modulus. This abstract is intended as a scanning tool for purposes of searching in the particular art and is not intended to be limiting of the present disclosure.