A composition and method for making extruded polystyrene (XPS) foam is provided. The composition includes an infrared attenuation agent composition comprising conductive polymers to achieve an XPS foam having an improved thermal insulation performance. In some exemplary embodiments, the conductive polymers comprise doped polypyrrole and doped polyaniline. In some exemplary embodiments, the XPS foam includes a carbon dioxide-based blowing agent.

The present invention is related to a process for the production of a vinyl aromatic (co)polymer comprising the steps of: a) mixing a fraction (A) comprising one or more monomers selected from the group consisting of styrene, alpha-methyl styrene, acrylonitrile, methyl (meth)acrylate, (meth)acrylic acid and butadiene with a fraction (B) comprising post-consumer recycled vinyl aromatic (co)polymer, wherein the weight ratio of fraction (B) to fraction (A) is comprised between 0.01/1 and 1/1, preferably between 0.05/1 and 0.5/1 b) subjecting the resulting mixture to a free-radical polymerization and polymerizing to a monomer conversion up to 90%, to obtain a polymerized mixture comprising vinyl aromatic (co)polymer; c) vacuum devolatizing the polymerized mixture and recovering vinyl aromatic (co)polymer characterized by a weight average molecular weight comprised between 100,000 and 400,000 g/mol;
wherein one or more bromine derivative capture agents are added before, and/or during and/or after at least one of the steps a) to c); and
wherein 100 parts of one or more bromine derivative capture agents comprises at least 50 parts by weight of hydrotalcite of the formula:

[Mg.sub.1-x Al.sub.x(OH).sub.2].sup.x+(CO.sub.3).sub.x/2.mH.sub.2O

wherein: 0<x≤0.5, and m is a positive number.

The present invention is also related to expandable and extruded expanded vinyl aromatic (co)polymer compositions obtained from vinyl aromatic (co)polymers comprising post-consumer and/or post-industrial vinyl aromatic (co)polymer and to a process for the production of said expandable and extruded expanded vinyl aromatic (co)polymer compositions.

A thermoplastic olefinic elastomer expanded bead, which is an expanded bead including a thermoplastic olefinic elastomer as a main component, wherein the expanded bead has an average particle diameter of 0.5 to 5 mm, the expanded bead has a heat of fusion of 60 to 80 J/g, and a difference [Tm−Tc] between a melting point (Tm) and a crystallization temperature (Tc) of the expanded bead is 20° C. or lower.

The combined use of polyol esters and cationic polyelectrolytes as additives in cosurfactant-containing aqueous polymer dispersions for production of porous polymer coatings, preferably for production of porous polyurethane coatings, is described.

A method of foam production is described. The method includes providing a foam precursor including one or more components, the one or more components including at least one of chitin, chitosan, or chitosan oligosaccharide and a solvent. The method further comprises exposing the foam precursor to radiation. The radiation is of a wavelength to heat the foam precursor. A system for foam produced is described, the system including a mixer configured to output a foam precursor including one or more components. The one or more components include at least one of chitin, chitosan, or chitosan oligosaccharide. The system further includes a radiation emitting system positioned to receive the foam precursor from the mixer and expose the foam precursor to radiation to heat the foam precursor to form a solid foam.

A foam is described. The foam comprising a polymer matrix including at least one of chitin, chitosan, or chitosan oligosaccharide. The polymer matrix is porous. The foam further comprising alginate. The foam has a density of less than 1 g/cm.sup.3. A method of making foam is described. The method comprising dissolving at least one of chitin, chitosan, or chitosan oligosaccharide in a first solution, dissolving alginate in a second solution that is alkaline and separate from the first solution, mixing the first solution and the second solution together to form a foam precursor, and drying the foam precursor to form the foam.

A crosslinked olefin-based thermoplastic elastomer expanded bead including a base polymer having an olefin-based thermoplastic elastomer and a brominated bisphenol-based flame retardant having a chemical structure represented by formula (1). A difference Tm.sub.TPO-T.sub.FR is −5° C. to 40° C., where Tm.sub.TPO is a melting point of the olefin-based thermoplastic elastomer and T.sub.FR is the lower of a glass transition temperature T.sub.gFR and a melting point Tm.sub.FR of the brominated bisphenol-based flame retardant. A xylene insoluble content is 5 mass % to 80 mass %. R.sup.1 and R.sup.3 in the formula (1) are monovalent substituents, R.sup.2 is a divalent substituent, and n is an integer from 1 to 6:

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A stretch film (1) contains an olefin elastomer and an inorganic filler (3). Stress at 50% elongation is 6.0 N or more and 15.0 N or less, and moisture permeability is 1000 g/(m.sup.2.Math.24 h) or more.

The hollow microballoons for CMP polishing pad of the invention are formed of at least one resin selected from the group consisting of a melamine resin, a urea resin and an amide resin and have an average particle size of 1 to 100 μm. According to the invention, there can be provided hollow microballoons for CMP polishing pad, which, when used in CMP polishing pad, exhibit excellent polishing characteristics, and can stably produce CMP polishing pad even in production of CMP polishing pad.

A polyolefin resin foam sheet includes a resin mixture as a base resin, the resin mixture including 0% by mass or more and 30% by mass or less of polyethylene resin, 30% by mass or more and 80% by mass or less of polypropylene resin, and 20% by mass or more and 40% by mass or less of a polyolefin elastomer, the polyolefin resin foam sheet fulfilling a range of −35% or more and 0% or less for dimensional changes in machine and transverse directions under heating for 10 minutes at a temperature 20° C. higher than a maximum melting point that is a highest melting peak in a differential scanning calorimetry.