Fiber-reinforced organic polymer aerogels, articles of manufacture and uses thereof are described. The reinforced aerogels include a fiber-reinforced organic polymer matrix having an at least bimodal pore size distribution with a first mode of pores having an average pore size of less than or equal to 50 nanometers (nm) and a second mode of pores having an average pore size of greater than 50 nm and a thermal conductivity of less than or equal to 30 mW/m.Math.K at a temperature of 20° C.

A carbon fiber-based conductive sponge for low electrode-skin impedance biosignal recordings is described. When the sponge is used with water or saline solution, no gel is required, drastically lowering the setup time for EEGs compared to classical wet electrodes. The wet sponges achieve an electrode-skin impedance as low as 2.5 kٶ when wet, making them better than state of the art gel electrodes. Additionally, even as the sponge dries, it continues to remain conductive and performs as a reliable dry electrode.

Biodegradable pellet compositions comprising: a starch at about 30% to about 80% by weight of the composition, a plasticizer at about 2% to about 30% by weight of the composition; a flexibility agent at about 10% to about 40% by weight; a binder at about 3% to about 13% by weight of the composition; a hydrophobic agent at about 0.1% to about 5% by weight of the composition; and an emulsifier at about 0.1% to about 5% by weight of the composition. The compositions further comprise a defoaming agent where a biodegradable foam pellet is the end product. The compositions may optionally include a plant fiber.

Foamed articles including a foamed thermoplastic elastomeric material, methods of making the articles, and methods for manufacturing articles of footwear, apparel, and athletic equipment incorporating the articles are provided. One exemplary method for making a foamed article comprises placing an article comprising a foamable fibrous element and carbon dioxide in a vessel, the foamable fibrous element comprising a plurality of filaments, fibers, and/or yarns, wherein each member of the plurality comprises a foamable material; maintaining the vessel at a first pressure and first temperature at which the carbon dioxide is a liquid and carbon dioxide is soluble in the foamable material; optionally exposing the infused article to a second temperature and second pressure; and subjecting the article to a third pressure and third temperature at which the infused carbon dioxide phase transitions to a gas, thereby expanding the foamable material into a foamed material and forming the foamed article.

A composite material, comprising a first component and a second component, the first component forming a three-dimensional mesh-type structure and the second component forming a matrix at least regionally filling the interstices between the first component, wherein the second component at least partially comprises an expanded material.

A thermoplastic composite sheet may be composed of a polymer material matrix and a lightweight material that is disposed throughout the polymer material matrix. The polymer material matrix may extend continuously throughout a length, width, and thickness of the thermoplastic composite sheet. The polymer material matrix may be a fully polymerized thermoplastic material. The lightweight material may be fully saturated by the thermoplastic material of the polymer material matrix. The thermoplastic composite sheet may include between 50 and 99 weight percent of the thermoplastic material and between 1 and 50 weight percent of the lightweight material. The thermoplastic composite sheet may be free of reinforcing fibers.

A molded product having both small specific gravity and high stiffness and also suffering few sink marks is described along with a method for the production thereof, where the molded product includes a porous body (A) integrated with an injection molded body (B), the porous body (A) having an apparent density of 0.05 to 0.8 g/cm.sup.3, the average thickness (tA) of the porous body (A) and the average thickness (tB) of the injection molded body (B) satisfying the relation tA3tB, and the injection molded body (B) covering at least one face of the porous body (A).

A process for manufacturing a rigid foam product includes processing a forest residue to obtain fibers having a mesh size of at most 5 mm mesh and an aspect ratio of between 0.5:1 and 20:1; preparing a slurry comprising the fibers, water, a foaming agent, and a polymer additive; foaming the slurry to yield a wet foam; and drying the wet foam to yield a rigid foam product.

Polymeric aerogels, articles made from the polymeric aerogels and methods of making the polymeric aerogels are provided. The aerogels are made e.g. from crosslinkable monomers such as isocyanate monomers or phenolic monomers and a filler comprising crosslinkable hydroxyl groups. The filler may be natural (e.g. wood flour) or synthetic. The aerogels and products made therefrom exhibit low thermal conductivity and are mechanically strong. Due to their physical properties, these materials are used as e.g. building envelope components, such as walls, roofs and frames, to improve the thermal performance thereof, and may be used in a variety of other applications such as sound and insulation barriers in mechanical equipment, cryogenic containers, etc.

Co-curable epoxy-based composite materials coated with co-curable polyurethane-based coating materials to form co-curable and co-cured polyurethane coated epoxy-based composite materials, with the polyurethane-based coating materials comprising UV-stabilizer agents and cure control agents are disclosed, along with components and large structures comprising the co-cured materials.