Polyurethane foams and methods of manufacturing are described herein. The foam can include (a) a polyurethane formed by the reaction of (i) one or more isocyanates selected from the group consisting of diisocyanates, polyisocyanates, and mixtures thereof, and (ii) one or more polyols; and (b) a filler. The amount of filler in the foam can be from 50 to 90% by weight, based on the total weight of the foam. The filler can include a plurality of fibers and/or a particulate filler. The polyurethane foams described herein are made without adding a surfactant to the reaction mixture. The density of the polyurethane foam can be at least 5 lb/ft.sup.3.

The invention aims to provide a shoe sole member capable of achieving comfort when using shoes and exhibiting excellent shape-recovering properties after using the shoes. Provided is a shoe sole member formed using a polymer foam, and the polymer foam contains fibers dispersed therein.

The present invention relates to a method for producing foam and foam produced thereby. The method for producing foam includes a step for producing foam by kneading and injection molding a first extrusion product and a second extrusion product, wherein the first extrusion product is obtained by extruding a first composition including an aromatic vinyl-based resin, and the second extrusion product is obtained by extruding a second composition including a polyamide resin and a foaming agent.

A composition comprising a fiber component, at least one surfactant/foaming agent, at least one dispersant, and optionally at least one binder, wherein the fiber component forms a viscous mixture that is converted to a foam product upon the addition of the surfactant/foaming agent once the viscous mixture reaches a predetermined dryness, wherein the foam product is resistant to shrinkage during drying and remains rigid.

A method for making a polymer with a porous layer from a solid piece of polymer is disclosed. In various embodiments, the method includes heating a surface of a solid piece of polymer to a processing temperature and holding the processing temperature while displacing a porogen layer through the surface of the polymer to create a matrix layer of the solid polymer body comprising the polymer and the porogen layer. In at least one embodiment, the method also includes removing at least a portion of the layer of porogen from the matrix layer to create a porous layer of the solid piece of polymer.

There are provided a tire that combines a low elastic modulus at low temperatures with a high hysteresis loss at low temperatures and has excellent on-ice brake performance, and a vulcanized rubber and a rubber composition from which the tire is obtained. A rubber composition comprising a rubber component comprising a natural rubber, a polybutadiene rubber, and a styrene-butadiene copolymer rubber, and 50 to 90 parts by mass of a filler comprising silica relative to 100 parts by mass of the rubber component, wherein the mass n of the natural rubber in the rubber component is 40% by mass or more, the mass n, the mass b of the polybutadiene rubber, and the mass s of the styrene-butadiene copolymer rubber satisfy the relation: sbn, provided that when n=b, s<b, and 50% by mass or more of the silica is comprised in a phase comprising the polybutadiene rubber and the styrene-butadiene copolymer rubber.

Disclosed is a composition for a heat dissipation pad, for example, a heat dissipation sheet in a cooling system for a water-cooling-type battery pack in a vehicle, for example, an electric vehicle. The heat dissipation pad may dissipate heat generated from the battery pack. Further disclosed is a method of manufacturing a heat dissipation pad having high thermal conductivity and low specific gravity. The composition may include the polymer composition including a carbon fiber, aluminum hydroxide and hollow glass beads.

A method of forming a void, channel and/or vascular network in a polymeric matrix comprises providing a pre-vascularized structure that includes a matrix material and a sacrificial material embedded in the matrix material in a predetermined pattern, where the matrix material comprises a monomer and the sacrificial material comprises a polymer. A region of the matrix material is activated to initiate an exothermic polymerization reaction and generate a self-propagating polymerization front. As the polymerization front propagates through the matrix material and polymerizes the monomer, heat from the exothermic reaction simultaneously degrades the sacrificial material into a gas-phase and/or liquid-phase byproduct. Thus, one or more voids or channels having the predetermined pattern are rapidly formed in the matrix material.

A skin-covered foamed molded article having excellent lightweight property, bending rigidity, and favorable dimensional stability, which includes: a skin material composed of a hollow molded body produced by blow-molding an extruded parison; and an expanded bead molded article located inside the skin material, wherein the skin material has an average wall thickness of from 1.0 mm to 5.0 mm, the skin material includes a glass fiber-reinforced polypropylene-based resin containing glass fiber in a range of from 5 mass % to 30 mass %, the glass fiber has a weight-average fiber length of from 0.4 mm to 1.5 mm, the expanded bead molded article includes a polypropylene-based resin, the peeling strength between the skin material and the expanded bead molded article is 0.1 MPa or higher, and the longitudinal linear expansion coefficient of the skin-covered foamed molded article (100) at from 23 C. to 80 C. is 7105/ C. or lower.

Methods of forming a lightweight reinforced thermoplastic core layer and articles including the core layer are described. In some examples, the methods use a combination of thermoplastic material, reinforcing fibers and bicomponent fibers to enhance retention of lofting agents in the core layer. The processes permit the use of less material while still providing sufficient lofting capacity in the final formed core layer.