A toughened polyester composite comprising: (i) a polyester matrix and (ii) droplets of a high boiling point liquid having a boiling point of at least 140° C. dispersed in said polyester matrix, wherein the high boiling point liquid is present in an amount of 0.1-10 wt % by weight of the toughened polyester composite, and wherein the composite may further include: (iii) a modifier selected from polycarboxylic, polyol, and polyamine compounds, wherein the modifier is present in an amount of 0.1-10 wt % by weight of the toughened polyester composite. Methods for producing the polyester composite are also described.

A method of manufacturing tubing suitable for use as a component of a medical device, such as a catheter body, and the real-time adjustment of characteristics of the tubing as it passes from one reel to another reel during manufacture. Thus, a length of tubing is manufactured that includes a plurality of segments of different flexibilities and the length of tubing is then cut into a plurality of sub-lengths of tubing that are suitable for use as a component of a medical device. In one embodiment, a method of manufacturing a length of catheter tubing comprises: extruding a base layer; overlaying a braided layer on the base layer; overlaying a sub-jacket layer over the braided layer; overlaying an outer jacket on the jacket sub-layer; and heating at least a portion the jacket sub-layer to change a characteristic of the length of catheter tubing.

The present invention relates to a polyester container. The polyester container is formed from a polyester resin containing a particular content of diol moieties derived from isosorbide and diethylene glycol, and thus can show high transparency in spite of a great wall thickness thereof.

The object of the present invention is to provide a production method which makes it possible to obtain a PHA with a simple operation. The object can be attained by providing a method for producing a polyhydroxyalkanoate, the method including the steps of: (a) preparing an aqueous polyhydroxyalkanoate suspension having a pH of not more than 7; and (b) heating the aqueous polyhydroxyalkanoate suspension, prepared in the step (a), at a temperature set at 80° C. to 300° C. in a twin screw extruder so as to aggregate a polyhydroxyalkanoate.

A tumbler crystallizer for crystallizing pelleted, tacky, polymeric materials includes a housing for rotatably supporting a removable paneled drum on rollers. The removable panels may be made of a transparent, heat-insulating material. The drum receives a flow of hot pellets through an inlet chute, and a tumbling action of the drum and internal agitators keeps the pellets in motion relative to each other to prevent agglomeration until they reach a desired level of crystallinity and are no longer tacky. Baffle plates are provided at intervals along the length of the drum to slow the flow of pellets therethrough to increase residence time. Damper plates are provided near the exit end of the drum to aid in building a bed of pellets within the drum, and also to control residence time of the pellets within the drum.

A semi-crystalline biaxially oriented film comprising a copolyester which comprises repeating units derived from an aliphatic glycol, an aromatic dicarboxylic acid, and the monomer of formula (I): (I) wherein n=2, 3 or 4, Z is C═O, and wherein comonomer (I) constitutes a proportion of the glycol fraction of the copolyester and is present in an amount of at least about 4 mol % of the glycol fraction of the copolyester. ##STR00001##

A semi-crystalline biaxially oriented film comprising a copolyester which comprises repeating units derived from an aliphatic glycol, an aromatic dicarboxylic acid, and the monomer of formula (I): (I) wherein n=2, 3 or 4, Z is C═O, and wherein comonomer (I) constitutes a proportion of the glycol fraction of the copolyester and is present in an amount of at least about 4 mol % of the glycol fraction of the copolyester. ##STR00001##

A method of forming a multimodal Polyalkylene Terephthalate (PAT) can include: providing a feed of a low molecular weight (LMW) PAT, the LMW PAT having a low average molecular weight; providing a feed of high molecular weight (HMW) PAT, the HMW PAT having a high average molecular weight, wherein the low average molecular weight is lower than the high average molecular weight; mixing the feed of LMW PAT with the feed of HMW PAT in a mixer to form a multimodal PAT; and providing the multimodal PAT as output. The multimodal PAT can include: a low average molecular weight of a low molecular weight (LMW) PAT; and a high average molecular weight of a high molecular weight (HMW) PAT mixed with the LMW PAT to form the multimodal PAT, wherein the multimodal PAT is devoid of talc.

Disclosed is a polymer powder having an average particle diameter of 20 μm to 300 μm, with a particle diameter of less than 10 μm of 10 mass % or less, and a particle diameter of greater than 300 μm of 10 mass % or less. Further, disclosed is a method for preparing a polymer powder, comprising: forming a melt of a polymer; introducing a supercritical fluid into the melt of the polymer to form a mixed composition; and spraying the mixed composition to prepare the polymer powder.

Disclosed is a polymer powder having an average particle diameter of 20 μm to 300 μm, with a particle diameter of less than 10 μm of 10 mass % or less, and a particle diameter of greater than 300 μm of 10 mass % or less. Further, disclosed is a method for preparing a polymer powder, comprising: forming a melt of a polymer; introducing a supercritical fluid into the melt of the polymer to form a mixed composition; and spraying the mixed composition to prepare the polymer powder.