This application relates to methods and systems for drying polyol starters, as well as reaction mixtures including such polyol starters, and the preparation of polymers derived from such polyol starters. In some embodiments, the present invention encompasses methods of drying a polyol initiator compound, the method including the step of contacting a composition comprising a polyol initiator compound with one or more molecular sieves.

Some variations provide a multiphase polymer composition comprising a first polymer material and a second polymer material that are chemically distinct, wherein the first polymer material and the second polymer material are microphase-separated on a microphase-separation length scale from about 0.1 microns to about 500 microns, wherein the multiphase polymer composition comprises first solid functional particles selectively dispersed within the first polymer material, and wherein the first solid functional particles are chemically distinct from the first polymer material and the second polymer material. Some embodiments provide an anti-corrosion composition comprising first corrosion-inhibitor particles or precursors selectively dispersed within the first polymer material, wherein the multiphase polymer composition optionally further comprises second corrosion-inhibitor particles or precursors selectively dispersed within the second polymer material. These multiphase polymer compositions may be used for other applications, such as self-cleaning, self-healing, or flame-retardant coatings. Methods of making and using these multiphase polymer compositions are disclosed.

Some variations provide a multiphase polymer composition comprising a first polymer material and a second polymer material that are chemically distinct, wherein the first polymer material and the second polymer material are microphase-separated on a microphase-separation length scale from about 0.1 microns to about 500 microns, wherein the multiphase polymer composition comprises first solid functional particles selectively dispersed within the first polymer material, and wherein the first solid functional particles are chemically distinct from the first polymer material and the second polymer material. Some embodiments provide an anti-corrosion composition comprising first corrosion-inhibitor particles or precursors selectively dispersed within the first polymer material, wherein the multiphase polymer composition optionally further comprises second corrosion-inhibitor particles or precursors selectively dispersed within the second polymer material. These multiphase polymer compositions may be used for other applications, such as self-cleaning, self-healing, or flame-retardant coatings. Methods of making and using these multiphase polymer compositions are disclosed.

The present invention discloses a Double Metal Cyanide (DMC) catalyst(s) useful for the production of polyether polyols (PEPO) and a less energy intensive room temperature method for the synthesis thereof. The catalyst(s) comprises of a DMC complex, an organic complexing agent, i.e., ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and other co-complexing organic agents, e.g., t-BuOH, PEPO of composition ranging from about 1 to 10 wt %, wherein the average molecular weight of PEPO used ranged from 200 to 1000. A method of preparing a series of DMC catalyst(s) at room temperature with varying compositional ratios of the complexing and co-complexing agents targeting a wide range of PEPO of varying kinematic viscosity range is also disclosed. These DMC catalyst(s) are amorphous, highly active, and easily separable from product PEPO with recyclability/recoverability, making the product PEPO better industrially applicable and DMC catalyst more cost-effective.

The present disclosure provides a Lewis acid-base pair catalytic initiator and an application thereof. The Lewis acid-base pair catalytic initiator includes a Lewis acid and a Lewis base, the Lewis acid having a structural general formula as shown in formula (I) and the Lewis base having a structural general formula as shown in formula (II); wherein: the A is selected from element Baron or element Aluminum; the R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3, R.sub.4 are independently selected from alkyl, alkoxy, aryl or halogen groups; the alkyl or alkoxy have a carbon number being equal to or greater than 1 to equal to or less than 16; the aryl contains substituents with the number being equal to or less than 5, the substituents being selected from methyl, methoxy or halogen; n is selected from an integer from 1 to 16.

Degradable ethylene oxide-based copolymers, including random, tapering, and block copolymers are described. For example, the present disclosure describes materials and methods for synthesizing degradable hydrophilic ethylene oxide-based copolymers, degradable amphiphilic ethylene oxide-based block copolymers, degradable hydrophobic polyethers and degradable functionalized polyethers via boron-activated copolymerization of ethylene oxide monomers with carbon dioxide.

A polyoxyalkylene polymer including a main chain structure of a polyoxyalkylene and terminal structures bonded to ends of the main chain structure is provided. The terminal structures include a hydrolyzable silyl group and further include a terminal olefin group and/or an internal olefin group. The total number of the hydrolyzable silyl, terminal olefin, and internal olefin groups is more than 1.0 on average per terminal structure, and the ratio of the number of moles of the hydrolyzable silyl groups to the total number of moles of the hydrolyzable silyl, terminal olefin, and internal olefin groups is from 0.3 to 0.7.

The present invention provides a composition comprising branched polyglycerol for controlling freezing, more specifically, the composition has a number average molecular weight of 1,000 to 20,000 g/mol and a branching of 0.1 to 1, and may control enhancement or inhibition of ice recrystallization by adjusting a content of polyglycerol.

Provided is a synthesis process for the one-step production of a monomeric polyether for polycarboxylic acid water reducing agents, wherein the monomeric polyether is synthesized in one step by mixing an initator and a catalyst at a temperature and a pressure, and then introducing same into a reaction kettle together with an epoxide at a certain ratio for ring opening polymerization. The synthesis process of the present invention realizes continuous production without the need of first synthesizing a prepolymer and then synthesizing a macromolecular monomeric polyether step by step, thereby improving the production efficiency. By separating four links, i.e. displacement, polymerization, curing and neutralization, in conventional monomeric polyether production processes, the present invention more effectively controls each of the links and increases the utilization efficiency of the reaction kettle; in addition, the process is easy to control, the structure of the product is stable, and the retention of double-bonds is high.

The present invention provides a composition comprising branched polyglycerol for controlling freezing, more specifically, the composition has a number average molecular weight of 1,000 to 20,000 g/mol and a branching of 0.1 to 1, and may control enhancement or inhibition of ice recrystallization by adjusting a content of polyglycerol.