A process of foaming a polyolefin, e.g., polyethylene, composition using as a nucleator a combination of (A) azodicarbonamide, and (B) a mixture of (1) a first component consisting of at least one of citric acid and an alkali metal citrate, and (2) a second component consisting of at least one of an alkali metal citrate, a di-alkali metal hydrogen citrate, an alkali metal dihydrogen citrate and an alkali metal bicarbonate, with the proviso that the mixture is not solely composed of alkali metal citrate.

According to the present invention, there are provided a porous body comprising a porous silicone substrate having communicating pores and a three-dimensional network silicone skeleton which forms the pores and which is formed by a copolymerization of a bifunctional alkoxysilane and a trifunctional alkoxysilane, and a polymeric cover material covering at least a part of a surface of the silicone skeleton, and an a method for producing the porous body. The porous body of the present invention has high flexibility and is strong to tension.

The present disclosure relates to a three-dimensionally (3D) printed tissue engineering scaffold for tissue regeneration and a method for manufacturing the 3D printed tissue engineering scaffold. The 3D printed tissue engineering scaffold may be fabricated at least in part from a composite material having an insoluble component and soluble component. The three-dimensional tissue scaffolds of the disclosure may be fabricated via a rapid prototyping machine. In some instances, the three-dimensional shape of the fabricated tissue engineering scaffold may correspond to a three-dimensional shape of a tissue defect of a patient.

A polymer matrix composite includes a porous polymeric network structure; and a plurality of acoustically active particles distributed within the polymeric network structure. The weight fraction of acoustically active particles is between 0.80 and 0.99, based on the total weight of the polymer matrix composite. The polymer matrix composite has an air flow resistance of less than 100 seconds/50 mL/500 m.

A process for manufacturing a thermoset polyester foam includes the following successive steps: (a) providing an expandable and thermosetting composition containing a polyol component including at least one element selected from glycerol, diglycerol and glycerol oligomers; a polyacid component including citric acid; a surfactant selected from alkyl polyglycosides and mixtures of an anionic surfactant and a cationic surfactant, and an esterification catalyst; (b) introducing the expandable and thermosetting composition into a mold or applying the expandable composition to a support; and (c) heating the expandable and thermosetting composition at a temperature at least equal to 135 C. so as to react the polyol component with the polyacid component and form a block of thermoset polyester foam.

A process of foaming a polyolefin, e.g., polyethylene, composition using as a nucleator a combination of (A) azodicarbonamide, and (B) a mixture of (1) a first component consisting of at least one of citric acid and an alkali metal citrate, and (2) a second component consisting of at least one of an alkali metal citrate, a di-alkali metal hydrogen citrate, an alkali metal dihydrogen citrate and an alkali metal bicarbonate, with the proviso that the mixture is not solely composed of alkali metal citrate.

The present invention includes a hydrogel and a method of making a porous hydrogel by preparing an aqueous mixture of an uncrosslinked polymer and a crystallizable molecule; casting the mixture into a vessel; allowing the cast mixture to dry to form an amorphous hydrogel film; seeding the cast mixture with a seed crystal of the crystallizable molecule; growing the crystallizable molecule into a crystal structure within the uncrosslinked polymer; crosslinking the polymer around the crystal structure under conditions in which the crystal structure within the crosslinked polymer is maintained; and dissolving the crystals within the crosslinked polymer to form the porous hydrogel.

The foamed sheet of the present invention is a foamed sheet obtained by crosslinking and foaming a polyvinylidene fluoride-based resin composition comprising a polyvinylidene fluoride-based resin, wherein the polyvinylidene fluoride-based resin comprises a vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene copolymer, a density of the foamed sheet is not more than 180 kg/cm.sup.3, and an average cell diameter of the foamed sheet is not less than 100 m and not more than 500 m. According to the present invention, a crosslinked polyvinylidene fluoride-based resin foamed sheet having both good flame retardance and good flexibility and a process for producing the foamed sheet are provided.

An adhesive tape including a particular foam base is provided. An average bubble diameter in a machine direction (MD) and an average bubble diameter in a cross-machine direction (CD) of the foam base are each 150 m or less, the ratio of the average bubble diameter in the machine direction/an average bubble diameter in a vertical direction (VD) and the ratio of the average bubble diameter in the cross-machine direction/the average bubble diameter in the vertical direction are each 6 or less, and the foam base has an interlaminar strength of 20 N/cm or more. With this adhesive tape, good followability to an adherend and excellent impact resistance can be realized. The adhesive tape of the present invention can be suitably used in portable electronic devices, such as smartphones, tablets, notebooks, and game machines, whose screen size has been increasing and for which a requirement for flexible design is high.

There is provided a composite material including scaly fillers made of an inorganic material and a binding resin that is a thermosetting resin which binds the fillers. The composite material 1 is a foaming material in which a plurality of voids is dispersed therein, and the fillers accumulate on inner walls of the voids so that flat surfaces of the fillers overlap.