Disclosed herein is a composition comprising a polymer; and a superheated fluid; where at least a portion of the polymer and the superheated fluid co-exist in a single phase. Disclosed herein is a method comprising exposing a polymer to a superheated fluid; swelling at least a portion of the polymer with the superheated fluid so that the polymer and the superheated fluid co-exist in a single phase; and changing pressure or temperature within the single phase to change a property in the polymer.

A rubber composition in which a transfer roller with lower resistance than in the related art is able to be formed without increasing a blending ratio of epichlorohydrin rubber, a transfer roller including the rubber composition, and an image forming apparatus having the transfer roller incorporated therein are provided. The rubber composition is obtained by blending rubbers including at least one of NBR, SBR, and BR and epichlorohydrin rubber with a crosslinking component, a foaming component, and 3 to 50 parts by mass aluminum silicate with respect to 100 parts by mass of the total amount of rubbers. A transfer roller includes a roller main body formed by extrusion-molding the rubber composition in a tubular shape and foaming and crosslinking the rubber composition. The image forming apparatus includes the transfer roller incorporated therein.

The present invention relates to a thermally curable composition comprising: (a1) a solid rubber in an amount of 2.5% by mass or more, (a2) an olefinic double bond-containing polymer which is liquid or pasty at 22 C. in an amount of less than 5% by mass, (a3) a hydrocarbon resin in an amount of, in total with said component (a2), 5% by mass or more and 20% by mass or less, and (a4) a liquid polydiene in an amount of 15% by mass or more based on the total mass of the composition as a component (a); and at least one selected from the group consisting of the following (b1) to (b3): (b1) sulfur and one or more accelerator(s), (b2) peroxidic vulcanization system or disulfidic vulcanization system, and (b3) quinones, quinone dioximes or dinitrosobenzene, as a vulcanization system (b).

The subject matter of the present application is thermally-expandable preparations, containing (a) at least one peroxide-crosslinkable polymer, (b) at least one low-molecular, multifunctional acrylate, (c) at least one peroxide and (d) at least two different chemical propellants, the mass ratio of the at least one peroxide to the at least one low-molecular, multifunctional acrylate being at least 1:3.

The invention refers to a method for producing expanded polymer pellets, which comprises the following steps: melting a polymer comprising a polyamide; adding at least one blowing agent; expanding the melt through at least one die for producing an expanded polymer; and pelletizing the expanded polymer. The invention further concerns polymer pellets produced with the method as well as their use, e.g. for the production of cushioning elements for sports apparel, such as for producing soles or parts of soles of sports shoes. A further aspect of the invention concerns a method for the manufacture of molded components, comprising loading pellets of an expanded polymer material into a mold, and connecting the pellets by providing heat energy, wherein the expanded polymer material of the pellets or beads comprises a chain extender. The molded components may be used in broad ranges of application.

A polyvinyl chloride polymer (PVC) composite material is described herein. The PVC composite material includes 40-60 parts by weight of PVC, 40-60 parts by weight of calcium carbonate, 0.2-0.6 parts by weight of composite foaming agent, 3-5 parts by weight of foam regulator, 2-4 parts by weight of toughener, 0.8-1.2 parts by weight of lubricant, and 2-3 parts by weight of stabilizer. Meanwhile, the present invention provides a foam board made of the PVC composite material and flooring. The resulting PVC products have a high-strength structure and a good foaming property, bring the comfort to feet as the resilient flooring does, have a satisfied sound reduction and can be easily installed as the hard flooring could.

The present invention provides a moisture-curable hot melt urethane composition, including a hot melt urethane prepolymer (A) having an isocyanate group and a foaming agent composition (B) containing N,N-dinitrosopentamethylenetetramine (b1), urea (b2) and a polyol (b3). The present invention also provides a method for producing a foamed and cured product of a moisture-curable hot melt composition, which includes heat-melting a hot melt urethane prepolymer (A), then mixing the foaming agent composition (B) therewith, applying the resultant mixture to a substrate, and performing a heating treatment at a temperature equal to or higher than heat-melting temperature of the (A) to thereby cause foaming and curing. An object of the present invention is to provide a solvent-free foaming system, according to which a foamed and cured product with excellent texture can be obtained, and an excellent foamed state can be maintained even in a thin film.

The invention refers to a method for producing expanded polymer pellets, which comprises the following steps: melting a polymer comprising a polyamide; adding at least one blowing agent; expanding the melt through at least one die for producing an expanded polymer; and pelletizing the expanded polymer. The invention further concerns polymer pellets produced with the method as well as their use, e.g. for the production of cushioning elements for sports apparel, such as for producing soles or parts of soles of sports shoes. A further aspect of the invention concerns a method for the manufacture of molded components, comprising loading pellets of an expanded polymer material into a mold, and connecting the pellets by providing heat energy, wherein the expanded polymer material of the pellets or beads comprises a chain extender. The molded components may be used in broad ranges of application.

A flexible material for thermal and acoustical insulation comprising an expanded polymer (blend) based on at least one elastomer, wherein expansion is achieved by decomposition of a mixture of at least two chemical blowing agents, comprising the exothermic chemical blowing agent 4,4-Oxybis(benzenesulfonyl hydrazide) (OBSH) and at least one endothermic blowing agent.

An elastomer alloy includes a base polymer including hydrogenated nitrile butadiene rubber (HNBR) and at least one secondary polymer, which is at least one of paraffin wax, low-density polyethylene (LDPE), linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and a plastomer. The base polymer and the at least one secondary polymer are blended into a polymer matrix. The elastomer alloy also includes a plurality of smart fillers dispersed within the polymer matrix, at least one chemical foaming agent, and a curing activator.