The present disclosure can provide aerogel compositions which have a thermal storage capacity, and which are durable and easy to handle. The present disclosure can provide aerogel compositions which include PCM coatings, particle mixtures, or PCM materials confined within the porous network of an aerogel composition. The present disclosure can provide methods for producing aerogel compositions by coating an aerogel composition with PCM materials, by forming particle mixtures with PCM materials, or by confining PCM materials within the porous network of an aerogel composition.

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 method for producing an expanded rigid foam with sealed pores includes at least the following steps: a) a mixture is prepared containing at least: an anionic polymer suited for ionotropic gelation; a foaming agent; a source of multivalent cations, said multivalent cations not being released in the mixture a); and a solvent; b) the mixture is stirred so as to obtain a foam; c) a compound capable of releasing protons in a sufficient amount to release said multivalent cations is added to the foam such that the anionic polymer gels ionotropically; d) the foam is dried. A foam is obtained in this manner and an object (for example a package, a heat-insulating or flame-retardant material) is made from this foam.

Described is a wood-plastic composite material for structural components of transport pallet, said structural components being capable of being nailed together, having a matrix foamed by means of a blowing agent, wood meal fibres and an adhesion promoter. To create a wood-plastic composite material of this kind which enables a cost-efficient production of transport pallets with a wood-like appearance and constitutes a reliable replacement for the soft wood materials used up until now, at least with regard to weight and mechanical strength properties, it is proposed that the matrix, which comprises a long chain-branched polyolefin, has a mass fraction of 30-95%, the wood meal fibres have a mass fraction of 5-50% and the adhesion promoter has a mass fraction of up to 10% of the wood-plastic composite material, the composite material density being less than 0.3 g/cm.sup.3.

The disclosure is directed to polymer compositions comprising a matrix polymer component comprising a crystalline or semi-crystalline polymer; and a fibrillated fluoropolymer, a fibrillated fluoropolymer encapsulated by an encapsulating polymer, or a combination thereof. Methods of preparing and using these polymer compositions, as well as articles comprising the polymer compositions, as also described.

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 7×10−5/° C. or lower.

A reinforcing sheet including one or more layers of a reinforcing material, and a thermosetting adhesive associated with the reinforcing material, wherein the thermosetting adhesive includes a curing agent, and an epoxy-modified dimerized fatty acid combined with an epoxy terminated polyurethane interpenetrating network.

A thermally expandable composition including at least one solid rubber R, at least on tackifying resin, at least one blowing agent, a vulcanization system, and 0.5-30 wt.-% of fibrous magnesium oxysulphate or carbon fibers or a mixture thereof. Also, a shaped article including a substrate layer composed of the thermally expandable composition, to a method for providing sealing, structural adhesion, baffling, or combination thereof to a structure of a manufactured article, and to use of fibrous magnesium oxysulphate or carbon fibers or a mixture thereof in a thermally expandable composition to improve sag resistance and/or flame resistance properties of said composition.

A foam molded article includes a main agent resin, a filler of greater than or equal to 15% by mass and less than or equal to 80% by mass, and a foaming agent of greater than or equal to 0.01% by mass and less than or equal to 10% by mass, and a foaming ratio caused by the foaming agent is greater than or equal to 1.1 times.

A process for producing a polymeric article is provided that includes: sequentially filling a female mould (11) with a first, second, and third batches, wherein the first and third batches include first and third polymeric materials (1p, 3p), and the second batch includes a second polymeric material (2p) and a blowing agent (2b), closing the thus filled cavity with a lid (12) to form a mould defining a closed cavity (10c) of constant volume in time, heating the mould (10) to a processing temperature, to melt the first, second, and third polymeric materials (1p-3p) and to expand the second polymer agent by activation of the blowing agent, cooling and removing the lid (12) to open the cavity and extracting the polymeric article. At least the second polymeric material (2p) includes at least 50 wt. % of recycled polymer in the form of shredded flakes.