Foamed articles including a foamed thermoplastic elastomeric material, methods of making the articles, and methods for manufacturing articles of footwear, apparel, and athletic equipment incorporating the articles are provided. One exemplary method for making a foamed article comprises placing an article comprising a foamable fibrous element and carbon dioxide in a vessel, the foamable fibrous element comprising a plurality of filaments, fibers, and/or yarns, wherein each member of the plurality comprises a foamable material; maintaining the vessel at a first pressure and first temperature at which the carbon dioxide is a liquid and carbon dioxide is soluble in the foamable material; optionally exposing the infused article to a second temperature and second pressure; and subjecting the article to a third pressure and third temperature at which the infused carbon dioxide phase transitions to a gas, thereby expanding the foamable material into a foamed material and forming the foamed article.

Polymer compositions comprising high structure filler materials and methods for preparing such compositions while retaining structure.

Foamed articles including a foamed thermoplastic elastomeric material, methods of making the articles, and methods for manufacturing articles of footwear, apparel, and athletic equipment incorporating the articles are provided. One exemplary method for making a foamed article comprises placing an article comprising a foamable material and carbon dioxide in a vessel, the foamable material; maintaining the vessel at a first pressure and first temperature at which the carbon dioxide is a liquid and carbon dioxide is soluble in the foamable material; optionally exposing the infused article to a second temperature and second pressure; and subjecting the article to a third pressure and third temperature at which the infused carbon dioxide phase transitions to a gas, thereby expanding the foamable material into a foamed material and forming the foamed article.

A method for forming a graphene-reinforced polymer matrix composite is disclosed. The method includes distributing graphite microparticles into a molten thermoplastic polymer phase; and applying a succession of shear strain events to the molten polymer phase so that the molten polymer phase exfoliates the graphite successively with each event until at least 50% of the graphite is exfoliated to form a distribution in the molten polymer phase of single- and multi-layer graphene nanoparticles less than 50 nanometers thick along the c-axis direction.

The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for composites, including short-fiber films and other composites. In certain aspects, composites comprising a plurality of aligned fibers are provided. The fibers may be substantially aligned, and may be present at relatively high densities within the composite. For example, the composite may include substantially aligned carbon fibers embedded within a thermoplastic substrate. The composites may be prepared, in some aspects, by dispersing fibers by neutralizing the electrostatic interactions between the fibers, for example using aqueous liquids containing the fibers that are able to neutralize the electrostatic interactions that typically occur between the fibers. The liquids may be applied to a substrate, and the fibers may be aligned using techniques such as shear flow and/or magnetism. Other aspects are generally directed to methods of using such composites, kits including such composites, or the like.

A liquid colorant for use in molding or extruding plastic products comprises pigment dispersed in cottonseed oil.

The present invention relates to a sealing element and/or a support ring, in particular for a reciprocating compressor, manufactured by compression molding of a mixture of chips of carbon fiber-reinforced composite material, wherein at least part of the chips contains carbon fibers having a length of 3 to 20 mm, and wherein the carbon fibers in the sealing element and/or support ring have a random fiber orientation.

A prepreg according to the invention comprises: a raw yarn treated by a sizing agent; a thermoplastic resin material; and a thermosetting resin material; wherein the thermoplastic resin material coats at least a part of an outer peripheral surface of the raw yarn, wherein the thermosetting resin material coats at least a part of an outer peripheral surface of the thermoplastic resin material, or wherein the thermosetting resin material coats at least a part of the outer peripheral surface of the raw yarn, wherein the thermoplastic resin material coats at least a part of an outer peripheral surface of the thermosetting resin material, and wherein the thermosetting resin material is polymerized by heating.

An object of the present invention is to provide a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin sheet which can be manufactured into a molded body exhibiting excellent appearance quality as well as exhibits both high moldability and strength and a manufacturing method of such a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin sheet. The present invention relates to a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin sheet which is a random laminated body of a tape-shaped unidirectional prepreg and contains spread reinforcement fibers and a polymer (a) and in which the polymer (a) is a polymer of at least a bisphenol A type epoxy compound represented by Formula (1): ##STR00001##
where n is an integer of 1 to 4
and a bisphenol compound selected from the group consisting of bisphenol A, bisphenol F, bisphenol S, bisphenol B, bisphenol E, and bisphenol P.

The invention relates to a process for producing non-woven fabric-like composite materials, novel non-woven fabric-like composite materials, articles made therefrom and their use. In particular the fabric-like composite materials are derived from shredded polymer-glued or polymer-coated paper products and coffee grounds as raw material.