Expandable chlorinated vinyl chloride-based resin particles from which a chlorinated vinyl chloride-based resin foamed molded product achieving both high expansion ratio and excellent surface appearance are provided. The expandable chlorinated vinyl chloride-based resin particles have a porosity of not more than 5.5 (ml/100 g).

Expandable methyl methacrylate resin particles capable of providing a foamed molded product which has excellent surface quality and with which a residue hardly remains after burning are provided. The expandable methyl methacrylate resin particles contain a base resin and a blowing agent. The base resin includes, as constitutional units, a specific amount of a methyl methacrylate unit, a specific amount of an acrylic ester unit, and a specific amount of a constitutional unit derived from a crosslinking agent. The expandable methyl methacrylate resin particles have a volume-average particle size of 0.30 mm to 0.50 mm.

Modified lignin products, processes for making them, and their use to produce rigid polyurethane or polyisocyanurate foams are disclosed. The processes comprise heating a lignin source with a nitrogen source and a starved concentration of a C.sub.1-C.sub.5 aldehyde to give a reaction mixture comprising a Mannich condensation product, neutralizing the reaction mixture, and isolating the modified lignin product. The process is performed at a mass ratio of lignin source to nitrogen source within the range of 1:1 to 1:5 and at a molar ratio of nitrogen source to C.sub.1-C.sub.5 aldehyde within the range of 3.5:1 to 1:1. Polyol blends and performance additives that contain the modified lignin products are described. Rigid foams that process well and incorporate up to 60 wt.%, based on the amount of polyol component, of the modified lignin contribute to excellent flame retardancy and low-temperature R-value performance.

A method for cleaning medical equipment by scrubbing the equipment with an open-cell melamine-formaldehyde foam comprising an antibacterial active composition, and wherein the open-cell melamine-formaldehyde foam is prepared from a melamine-formaldehyde precondensate, wherein the molar ratio melamine to formaldehyde of the melamine-formaldehyde precondensate is smaller than 0.5.

The invention relates to a process for producing small-cell foams from a styrene-polymer component (S) and an additive of formula (I), wherein Z represents a C.sub.1-C.sub.5-alkylene group or an oxygen or sulfur atom, R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 represent, e.g., a C.sub.3-C.sub.12-alkyl residue, C.sub.3-C.sub.12-cycloalkyl residue or benzyl residue; and R.sub.3, R.sub.4, R.sub.5 and R.sub.6 represent hydrogen or a C.sub.1-C.sub.6-alkyl residue, comprising the steps of: —heating at least a styrene-polymer component (S) to obtain a molten, polymeric molding compound, —introducing a propellant (T) into the molten molding compound to form a foamable composition (Z), and—foaming the foamable composition to obtain a foamed molding, the molten polymeric molding compound containing at least one carboxylic acid derivative of the general formula (I).

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The present invention relates to a polypropylene composition comprising —10 to 50 wt. % of recycled polypropylene (R-PP) and/or linear polypropylene (L-PP); —40 to 89.95 wt. % of a high melt strength polypropylene (HMS-PP) having an F30 melt strength of more than 25.0 cN and a v30 melt extensibility of more than 205 mm/s, wherein the F30 melt strength and the v30 melt extensibility are determined according to ISO 16790:2005; and —0.05 to 10 wt. % of a nucleating agent (NA); a foamed sheet formed from the polypropylene composition; an article comprising the foamed sheet and a process comprising the step of forming the polypropylene composition. Furthermore, the invention is further directed to the usage of the polypropylene composition for the formation of foamed sheets.

The present invention relates to a foamed sheet consisting of a polypropylene composition comprising at least 85 wt. %, e.g. from 85 to 99.5 wt.-%, of a high melt strength polypropylene (HMS-PP) and 0.5 to 15 wt. % of a nucleating agent (NA), wherein the foamed sheet has a thickness of below 0.5 mm or a thickness of 2.0 mm or more. The present invention further relates to a foamed material consisting of a polypropylene composition as well as the use of a polypropylene composition comprising at least 85 wt. %, e.g. from 85 to 99.5 wt.-%, of a high melt strength polypropylene (HMS-PP) and 0.5 to 15 wt. % of a nucleating agent (NA) for producing foamed material.

In the phenolic resin foam laminate board (10), a surface material (2) is arranged on at least one of one side of a phenolic resin foam (1) and the back side of the one side. The phenolic resin foam (1) has a density of not less than 22 kg/m.sup.3 and not more than 50 kg/m.sup.3, a cell diameter of not less than 50 μm and not more than 170 μm, and a closed cell ratio of not less than 80%. When HCFO-1224yd(Z), aliphatic hydrocarbons having a carbon number of 6 or less, chlorinated saturated hydrocarbons having a carbon number of 5 or less, and hydrofluoroolefin are gas components, the phenolic resin foam contains only HCFO-1224yd (Z) as a gas component. A cell internal pressure of air bubble is 0.20 atm or more.

Although polyolefin elastomers are widely employed commodity polymers, there are shortcomings of this class of polymers for certain applications. For example, the rheological properties of some polyolefin elastomers may be insufficient to provide the green strength or low shear viscosity necessary to form stable foams, or to provide sufficient viscosity modification effects when present in a solvent. Cationomeric modification of polyolefin elastomers may alleviate these difficulties. Such polyolefin elastomers may feature a random cationomeric polyolefin copolymer comprising at least a first monomer and a second monomer, in which the first monomer is a neutral monomer and the second monomer has a side chain bearing a cationic moiety. The polyolefin elastomers may be present in foamed polyolefin compositions comprising a gas component and/or in liquid compositions comprising a solvent in which the polyolefin elastomer is dissolved.

A method for preparing rigid polyurethane (PUR) foams or rigid polyisocyanurate (PIR) foams in which method the rigid PUR or PIR foam is prepared by reacting a composition (C) comprising: at least one isocyanate-reactive component (B1) having functional groups selected from hydroxyl, amine and thiol groups; at least one isocyanate component (A1) having an average functionality of less than 2.70; and at least one blowing agent [blowing agent (BA), herein after]; with the proviso that the overall average functionality [F.sub.n,avg(A), herein after] of all isocyanate components present in the composition (C) is less than 2.70; wherein the composition (C) is characterized by an isocyanate index X, wherein the rigid PUR or PIR foams are produced by depositing the composition (C) between two gas-tight facing sheets and wherein the rigid PUR or PIR foam is characterized by a difference Δλ between the initial thermal conductivity value λ.sub.ini and the aged thermal conductivity value λ.sub.aged of said rigid PUR or PIR foam wherein: when X≤200 then Δλ<1.35; and when X>200 then Δλ<[6.49−(4.46*F.sub.n,avg(A))−(0.02348*X)+(0.492*F.sub.n,avg(A)*F.sub.n,avg(A))+(0.01343*F.sub.n,avg(A)*X)+0.3].