A bead foam is made of thermoplastic polyurethane, a styrene polymer, and an impact modifier. Moldings can be produced from the bead foam and processes for the production of the bead foams and moldings can be utilized. The moldings can be used for shoe intermediate soles, shoe insoles, shoe combisoles, cushioning elements for shoes, bicycle saddles, bicycle tires, damping elements, cushioning, mattresses, underlays, grips, protective films, in components in the automobile-interior sector or automobile-exterior sector, balls and sports equipment, or as floorcovering.

The present invention relates to an extruded expanded thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer bead and a preparation method therefor. The bead consists of components of the following parts by weight: 100 parts by weight of a thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer, 0.01-0.5 parts of a foaming nucleating agent, and 0.01-0.2 parts by weight of an antioxidant. The preparation method comprises: mixing materials, then putting the mixture into an extruder for granulation to produce a particle raw material suitable for foaming, finally, putting the particle into a foam extruder, and die foaming then underwater pelletizing, thus obtaining a product bead. The present invention utilizes an extrusion method to prepare expanded thermoplastic polyurethane beads. Control of the working conditions of the foaming process could lead to acquiring an expanded=bead of a controllable density, the cell density evenly distribute. The overall production process is easy to operate. Without any special limit or requirement placed on the equipment, this method is suitable for industrial continuous production.

The present invention provides a method for preparing a uniform-sized core-shell foaming agent includes: providing a SPG membrane having a pore size ranging approximately from 0.5 to 50 μm; preparing a dispersed phase liquid including at least one shell material, at least one initiator, at least one cross-linker and at least one blowing agent; preparing a continuous phase liquid including at least one solvent, at least one salt, and at least one stabilizer; delivering a first pressurized gas to dispense the dispersed phase liquid to the continuous phase liquid through the SPG membrane; stirring until the uniform-sized emulsion being homogenous; initiating the polymerization of the uniform-sized emulsion to form microspheres; drying the microspheres to form the uniform-sized core shell foaming agent.

A polyurethane, in particular a thermoplastic polyurethane, is obtainable or obtained by reacting at least a polyisocyanate composition and a polyol composition. The polyol composition contains at least one polyester diol or polyether diol, having a number-average molecular weight in the range from 500 to 3000 g/mol, and at least one polysiloxane having two terminal isocyanate-reactive functionalities selected from a thio group, a hydroxyl group, and an amino group. A process can be used for preparing this polyurethane, and a molded body containing the polyurethane is useful. Foam beads based on polyurethane can be obtained or obtainable from the polyurethane, and a process can be used for producing foam beads. Corresponding bead foams are useful.

Compression molded polymeric foam articles and methods are described herein. Equipment design and processing techniques may be controlled to form compression molded articles having desired characteristics.

An expanded polypropylene resin particle is obtained from a base material resin having a melting point of 140° C. to 150° C., wherein the base material resin includes a polypropylene resin A including 3 weight % to 15 weight % of 1-butene and having a melting point of 130° C. to 140° C.; and a polypropylene resin B having a melting point of 145° C. to 165° C., and wherein the expanded polypropylene resin particle has an average cell diameter of 100 μm to 340 μm.

The invention relates to a method of preparing expanded thermoplastic microspheres from thermally expandable thermoplastic microspheres comprising a polymer shell encapsulating a foaming agent, the method comprising heating the expandable microspheres within a flexible container (2) to effect expansion of said microspheres and withdrawing gas from said flexible container (2). The invention further relates to an expansion device for preparing such expanded thermoplastic microspheres.

An expanded bead having a tubular shape with a through hole and a method for producing the same are provided. The expanded bead includes a foamed core layer and a covering layer. A polyolefin-based resin included in the covering layer has a melting point lower than a melting point of a polypropylene-based resin included in the foamed core layer. An average hole diameter d of the through hole of the expanded bead is less than 1 mm, and a ratio d/D of the average hole diameter d to an average outer diameter D of the expanded bead is 0.4 or less. The polypropylene-based resin for the foamed core layer has a flexural modulus of 1,200 MPa or more and a melting point of 158° C. or lower.

The invention relates to a method for impregnating a polymer granulate with a predefined mass of a gaseous propellant. According to the invention, the polymer granulate is arranged inside a pressure vessel and a gaseous propellant is introduced into the inside of the pressure vessel.

The invention refers to a method for producing expanded polymer pellets, which comprises the following steps: melting a polymer comprising a polyamide; adding at least one blowing agent; expanding the melt through at least one die for producing an expanded polymer; and pelletizing the expanded polymer. The invention further concerns polymer pellets produced with the method as well as their use, e.g. for the production of cushioning elements for sports apparel, such as for producing soles or parts of soles of sports shoes. A further aspect of the invention concerns a method for the manufacture of molded components, comprising loading pellets of an expanded polymer material into a mold, and connecting the pellets by providing heat energy, wherein the expanded polymer material of the pellets or beads comprises a chain extender. The molded components may be used in broad ranges of application.