The present invention pertains to an aqueous dispersion of a vinylidene fluoride polymer having a high molecular weight and possessing a substantially linear structure, leading to reduced amount of gels/insoluble fractions, to a method for its preparation and to its use for the manufacture of electrochemical cell components, such as electrodes and/or composite separators or for the manufacture of membranes.

There is provided a hyper-branched polymer represented by the following formula (1) and having a weight-average molecular weight in a range of 1,000 to 1,000,000. In the formula (1), A.sup.1 is a group containing an aromatic ring, A.sup.2 is a group containing an amide group, A.sup.3 is a group containing sulfur, R.sup.0 is hydrogen or a substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, ml is in a range of 0.5 to 11, and n1 is in a range of 5 to 100. ##STR00001##

Disclosed is a graft copolymer containing a polyfluorene-based polymer as a main chain and a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) as a side chain, and an element including the same. The graft copolymer contains both the polyfluorene-based polymer and the PVDF, so that the graft copolymer may increase miscibility between polymers to prepare a composite having excellent performance, prepare an uniform thin film through a solution process, and be used as a single material that exhibits both piezoelectric properties and luminescence properties.

A vulcanizable composition comprising rubber component, a filler, and a curing agent, where the rubber component includes a block copolymer of polybutadiene and polyisoprene, and where the block copolymer has a cis content of at least 90%.

The present invention relates to an effluent treatment method for treating an aqueous effluent having solid particles, the method including the addition to the effluent of at least one water-soluble polymer comprising at least one non-ionic monomer and at least one anionic monomer obtained by controlled radical polymerization, the said polymer having a UL viscosity of between 2 and 4.5 cps.

The present invention relates to a method of preparing a hierarchically porous polymer and a hierarchically porous polymer prepared thereby. The method comprises the steps of: (a) polymerizing an external oil phase of a high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) consisting aqueous droplets to produce a cross-linked block copolymer; (b) obtaining a macroporous polymer with interconnected macropores by removing the aqueous droplets; and (c) treating the obtained porous polymer with a base, thereby obtaining a hierarchically porous polymer having three-dimensional mesopores formed in the macroporous walls. According to the method, the macropore size and mesopore size of the hierarchically porous polymer can all be controlled. The hierarchically porous polymer prepared by the method can easily separate polymers having different sizes, and thus is highly useful in the polymer separation field.

A fuel additive composition, including: (a) one or more copolymer(s) including: at least one unit of the following formula (I), where u=0 or 1, E=—O— or —N(Z)—, or —O—CO—, or —CO—O— or —NH—CO— or —CO—NH—, where Z represents H or a C1-C6 alkyl group, G represents a group selected between a C1-C34 alkyl group, aromatic ring, aralkyl including at least one aromatic ring and at least one C1-C34 alkyl group, and at least one unit of the following formula (II), where R1″ is selected between a hydrogen atom and a methyl group, Q is selected between an oxygen atom and a group —NR′—, where R′ is selected between a hydrogen atom and C1-C12 hydrocarbon chains, R includes a C1-C34 hydrocarbon chain substituted with at least one quaternary ammonium, (b) one or more amines substituted with a polyalkenyl group, and (c) at least one carrier oil.

Described are polymers, polymer binders, hydrogel polymer binders, hydrogel polymer binder compositions comprising them, electrode materials comprising them, their methods of production and their use in electrochemical cells, for instance, in silicon-based electrochemical cells.

A graft copolymer and a method of delivering an active agent to a subject are provided. The graft copolymer includes a polymer backbone, a hydrophilic segment grafted to the polymer backbone, a pH-responsive segment grafted to the polymer backbone, and an endosomal disruption segment grafted to the polymer backbone. The method of delivering an active agent to a subject includes encapsulating the active agent with the graft copolymer and administering the encapsulated active agent to the subject.

Embodiments of the present disclosure describe a method of removing an end group from a polymer comprising contacting a polymer having a thiocarbonylthio end group, or a solution containing such a polymer, with an excess of a borane compound in the presence of oxygen. Embodiments of the present disclosure further describe a method of polymerization comprising contacting one or more monomers with an initiator and a chain transfer agent to form a polymer having a thiocarbonylthio end group in a reaction solution and contacting the polymer with a borane compound in the presence of oxygen to remove the thiocarbonylthio end group from the polymer.