A thermoplastic elastomer foam is made by incorporating a gaseous or supercritical blowing agent under pressure into a molten thermoplastic elastomer comprising polymeric polymeric crystalline domains, then releasing the pressure to foam the thermoplastic elastomer.

A composition includes poly(4-methylpent-1-ene) and hollow glass microspheres. The composition has a density of less than 0.8 grams per cubic centimeter. Articles made from the composition and methods of making an article by injection molding the composition are also disclosed.

The present invention relates to a process for producing an open-cell rigid polyurethane foam. Said foams can contain, besides urethane groups (PUR), also isocyanurate groups (PIR).

A process for the preparation of coloured and expanded thermoplastic polyurethane (coloured ETPU) material which comprises the following steps: a) providing thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) material and at least one gaseous fluid wherein the melting temperature of the TPU material is above the supercritical temperature of the at least one gaseous fluid b) placing the TPU material in an autoclave together with a colorant and/or a fluorescent whitening agent (FWA), wherein the colorant is selected from at least one of a disperse dye, an acid dye and a pigment; c) increasing the pressure in the autoclave by introducing the at least one gaseous fluid at a temperature below the melting point of the TPU material and at least above the supercritical temperature of the at least one gaseous fluid at the applied pressure (saturation step); and d) allowing the non-expanded TPU material to saturate; and e) decreasing the pressure in the autoclave down to ambient pressure at a temperature between the melting temperature and the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the TPU material at such a rate that the TPU material expands (expansion step) to obtain coloured ETPU material f) removing the coloured ETPU material from the autoclave

A polyolefin composition is foamed by a process in which a nucleator is used, and the nucleator comprises 80% or more of unagglomerated fluororesin particles and/or agglomerates of fluororesin particles in which both the unagglomerated particles and the agglomerates are less than 1 m in size.

Polymer foam and a method for preparing the same are disclosed. In the present disclosure, the method sequentially comprises the following steps: providing a polymer body; performing a pressure-induced flow (PIF) process on the polymer body at a first predetermined temperature and a first predetermined pressure for a pressure holding time, to obtain a polymer sheet; and performing a foaming process on the polymer sheet by using a foaming agent at a second predetermined temperature and a second predetermined pressure for a saturation time, to obtain polymer foam.

The invention relates to a process used to produce open-cell and extremely fine-cell PUR/PIR rigid foams, said process using a polyol formulation comprising a specific isocyanate-reactive component, a catalyst component having zerewitinoff-active hydrogens and a cell-opener component.

The present disclosure relates to a polymer foam and a preparation method thereof. The polymer foam is obtained by physically foaming a thermoplastic elastomer or a polyolefin material, and has an apparent density of 0.30 g/cm.sup.3 or less and a rebound degree of 50% or more as measured according to ASTM D2632.

The present disclosure relates to a method for physically foaming a polymer material and a foamed article. The method for physically foaming a polymer material comprises: (1) making a thermoplastic elastomer or a polyolefin material into a blank with an injector, an extruder, or a molding press; (2) subjecting the polyolefin blank to a crosslinking reaction to obtain a crosslinked polyolefin blank; (3) subjecting the thermoplastic elastomer blank or the crosslinked polyolefin blank to a high pressure impregnation with a supercritical fluid in an autoclave, then releasing the pressure to a normal pressure to obtain a supercritical fluid-impregnated blank; and (4) placing the supercritical fluid-impregnated blank into an end-product mold to perform an 1:1 in-mold foaming to obtain a finished foam article.

The present invention describes compostable or biobased foams that are useful for fabricating foamed articles and methods for producing the same. The foams are produced using a compound comprising a compostable or biobased polyester and a blowing agent. Additives including plasticizers and chain extenders are optionally included in the compostable or biobased composition. These foams can be produced using conventional melt processing techniques, such as single and twin-screw extrusion processes. In one embodiment, foamed strand profiles are cooled and cut using conventional strand pelletizing equipment. In another embodiment, foamed beads are produced by cutting the foamed strand at the face of the extrusion die and the foamed bead or strand is subsequently cooled. The resulting compostable or biobased foamed bead has a specific gravity less than 0.15 g/cm.sup.3 and the foam is compostable, as determined by ASTM D6400.