Foamed articles including a foamed thermoplastic elastomeric material, methods of making the foamed articles, and methods for manufacturing articles of footwear, apparel, and athletic equipment incorporating such foamed articles are provided. In one aspect, a method for making a foamed article comprises placing an article comprising a foamable material and carbon dioxide in a vessel, 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 thermally-insulating composite material with co-shrinkage in the form of an insulating material formed by the inclusion of microballoons in a matrix material such that the microballoons and the matrix material exhibit co-shrinkage upon processing. The thermally-insulating composite material can be formed by a variety of microballoon-matrix material combinations such as polymer microballoons in a preceramic matrix material. The matrix materials generally contain fine rigid fillers.

A structure for protecting a substrate. The structure comprises an inner tie coat layer which can bond to the substrate, a geopolymer foam layer, and an outer protective layer. The geopolymer foam layer is the reaction product of a mixture comprising an aluminosilicate source, an alkali activator, reinforcing fibres, and a plurality of microparticles.

A structure for protecting a substrate. The structure comprises an inner tie coat layer which can bond to the substrate, a geopolymer foam layer, and an outer protective layer. The geopolymer foam layer is the reaction product of a mixture comprising an aluminosilicate source, an alkali activator, reinforcing fibres, and a plurality of microparticles.

A process for manufacturing an expanded polystyrene foam article from used expanded polystyrene foam articles in combination with virgin polystyrene foam, the process comprising the steps of: stacking a plurality of individual used expanded polystyrene foam articles in a vertical block machine to occupy at least 20% of the internal volume in the block machine; conveying virgin polystyrene beads into the internal volume of the vertical block machine to occupy at least some of the remaining internal volume of the block machine by mixing the virgin polystyrene with the used stacked foam articles; and heating the internal volume of the block machine to a temperature of at least 75° C. by supplying pressurised steam into the heated internal volume of the block machine to fuse the virgin expanded polystyrene beads and the stacked expanded polystyrene foam articles to form the expanded polystyrene foam article.

Disclosed are cellulose-based flexible gels containing cellulose nanorods, ribbons, fibers, and the like, and cellulose-enabled inorganic or polymeric composites, wherein the gels have tunable optical, heat transfer, and stiffness properties. The disclosed gels are in the form of hydrogels, organogels, liquid-crystal (LC) gels, and aerogels, depending on the solvents in the gels.

Disclosed are cellulose-based flexible gels containing cellulose nanorods, ribbons, fibers, and the like, and cellulose-enabled inorganic or polymeric composites, wherein the gels have tunable optical, heat transfer, and stiffness properties. The disclosed gels are in the form of hydrogels, organogels, liquid-crystal (LC) gels, and aerogels, depending on the solvents in the gels.

A polymer matrix composite comprising a porous polymeric network; and a plurality of dielectric particles distributed within the polymeric network structure; wherein the dielectric particles are present in a range from 5 to 98 weight percent, based on the total weight of the dielectric particles and the polymer (excluding the solvent); and wherein the polymer matrix composite has a dielectric constant in a range from 1.05 to 80; and methods for making the same. Polymer matrix composites comprising dielectric particles are useful, for example, as electric field insulators.

A polymer matrix composite comprising a porous polymeric network; and a plurality of dielectric particles distributed within the polymeric network structure; wherein the dielectric particles are present in a range from 5 to 98 weight percent, based on the total weight of the dielectric particles and the polymer (excluding the solvent); and wherein the polymer matrix composite has a dielectric constant in a range from 1.05 to 80; and methods for making the same. Polymer matrix composites comprising dielectric particles are useful, for example, as electric field insulators.

A scrubber and methods of forming a scrubber. The scrubber may include a foamed melamine resin, a first foamed polyurethane resin, a second foamed polyurethane resin, and a binder. The scrubber can be configured to exhibit the properties of both a scrubber and an eraser, and have a density ranging from 0.01 to 0.5 grams per cm.sup.3. A method of forming the scrubber may include the following steps: mixing foamed melamine resin particles, first foamed polyurethane resin particles, and second foamed polyurethane resin particles to form a first mixture; and mixing the first mixture with a binder to form a second mixture.