The invention relates to highly elastic polyurethane foams which are suitable as functional materials having thermally insulating properties.

A thermally expandable sheet includes: a first thermally expansive layer that is formed on one side of a base and contains a first thermally expandable material; and a second thermally expansive layer that is formed on the first thermally expansive layer and contains a second thermally expandable material, wherein the second thermally expandable material further contains white pigment.

A thermally expandable sheet includes: a first thermally expansive layer that is formed on one side of a base and contains a first thermally expandable material and a first binder, the first thermally expansive layer having a first ratio of the first thermally expandable material with respect to the first binder; and a second thermally expansive layer that is formed on the first thermally expansive layer and contains a second thermally expandable material and a second binder, the second thermally expansive layer having a second ratio of the second thermally expandable material with respect to the second binder, wherein the first ratio is lower than the second ratio.

Disclosed is a high filling and high resilience soft foaming polyethylene material, comprising the following parts of raw materials by weight: 15-20 parts polyethylene, 5-20 parts elastomers, 60-80 parts modified calcium carbonate, 1-10 parts chemical foaming agent, 0.5-1.5 parts crosslinking agent and 1-5 parts physical foaming agent. Also disclosed is a method of preparing high filling and high resilience soft foaming polyethylene material. The present invention can prepare a high calcium carbonate filling and high resilience soft foaming polyethylene material with calcium carbonate filler content as high as 55-75%, improving rigidity, hardness and compressive strength of the material while maintaining the elasticity of the foaming material, and reducing material density. The present invention has a simple process, greatly reduces costs and is economical and practical.

The present disclosure relates to thermoplastic polymeric microspheres comprising a thermoplastic polymer shell surrounding a hollow core, in which the thermoplastic polymer shell comprises a copolymer of a monomer of Formula 1:

##STR00001##

wherein: each of A.sup.1 to A.sup.11 are independently selected from H and C.sub.1 to C.sub.4 alkyl, in which each C.sub.1-4 alkyl group can optionally be substituted with one or more substituents selected from halogen, hydroxy and C.sub.1-4 alkoxy; A.sup.12 is selected from C.sub.1 to C.sub.4 alkyl, in which the C.sub.1-4 alkyl group can optionally be substituted with one or more substituents selected from halogen, hydroxy and C.sub.1-4 alkoxy X is a linking group selected from —O—, —NR″—, —S—, —OC(O)—, —NR″C(O)—, —SC(O)—, —C(O)O—, —C(O)NR″—, and —C(O)S—; and
R″ is H or C.sub.1-2 alkyl optionally substituted with one or more substituents selected from halogen and hydroxyl.

The present invention provides a master batch composition for environmentally degrading conventional plastics including a carrier resin, at least one oxidative degradant, at least one nature biodegradable degradant and at least one foaming agent. The present invention also provides a plastic product which is environmentally degradable at a very low cost versus conventional bio-sourced plastics, and has broad applications for single-use disposable applications or for short-lived products that are discarded within two years of manufacture.

Low-density thermoplastic expandable microspheres are disclosed. Various low-density structures, in particular, sandwich panels, based on foam prepared from the low-density microspheres, are also disclosed. Process of preparing low-density polymeric microspheres, per se, and the corresponding low-density structures, based on the microsphere foam, are also disclosed.

Heat-expandable microspheres including a thermoplastic resin shell and a thermally-vaporizable blowing agent encapsulated therein. The thermoplastic resin is produced by polymerizing a polymerizable component containing (A) a nitrile monomer including acrylonitrile and methacrylonitrile, (B) a carboxyl-group-containing monomer, and (C) a monomer copolymerizable with the nitrile monomer (A) and the carboxyl-group-containing monomer (B). Further, the amount of the acrylonitrile in the nitrile monomer (A) ranges from 0.1 to 9 wt % based on the nitrile monomer (A). Also disclosed are hollow particles manufactured by heating and expanding the heat-expandable microspheres; a composition containing a base compound and at least one particulate material selected from the heat-expandable microspheres and the hollow particles; and a formed product manufactured by molding or applying a coat of the composition.

A vehicle seat core material includes a molded article that includes thermoplastic resin expanded beads. The molded article has a substantially rectangular shape in a top view, and has a front side and a rear side opposite the front side. The molded article has an average density (Z) of 20 kg/m.sup.3 to 50 kg/m.sup.3. The molded article includes, on the rear side of the molded article, a rear thin portion having a thickness of 10 mm to 40 mm, the thickness of the rear thin portion being smaller than an average thickness of the molded article. A ratio (Y/Z) of a density (Y) of the rear thin portion to the average density (Z) of the molded article is 1.05 to 3. The rear thin portion of the molded article has a fusion rate of 70% or more.

A footwear article is provided. The footwear article includes a shoe sole. The shoe sole includes a crosslinked foam polyolefin elastomer having a density less than 0.88 g/cm.sup.3, the crosslinked foam polyolefin elastomer including: a silane-grafted polyolefin elastomer, a silane-grafted olefin block copolymer, a polyolefin elastomer (POE), an olefin block copolymer (OBC), or a combination thereof; an ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer; a crosslinker; a condensation catalyst; and a foaming agent. The shoe sole exhibits a compression set of from about 1.0% to about 50.0%, as measured according to ASTM D 395 (48 hrs @ 50° C.).