A curative for epoxidized plant-based oils and epoxidized natural rubber is created from the reaction between a naturally occurring polyfunctional acid and an epoxidized plant-based oil is disclosed. The curative may be used to produce at least one of six different materials, wherein each type of material may be configured as a thermosetting elastomer that is crosslinked with β-hydroxyester linkages. The materials may be configured as a leather-like material, a foam material, a molded elastomer, a coating, an adhesive, and/or a rigid or semi-rigid material. Illustrative articles made from any combination of the six materials may be recycled using a mechano-chemical process to de-crosslink the thermosetting elastomer.

Disclosed is a method for molding a foamed article, such as a midsole or outsole for footwear, in which first water, then a desired amount of thermoplastic polyurethane foam beads are placed in a compression mold in the shape of the article and the mold is brought to a peak temperature of from about 130° C. to about 180° C. over a period of from about 300 to about 1500 seconds, then cooled to from about 5° C. to about 80° C. over a period of from about 300 to about 1500 seconds within about 30 seconds after the peak temperature is reached. The foamed article made by the method has a density of from about 0.1 to about 0.45 g/cm.sup.3.

Foamed articles including a foamed thermoplastic elastomeric material, methods of making the foamed articles, and methods for manufacturing articles of footwear, apparel, and athletic equipment incorporating such foamed articles are provided. In one aspect, a method for making a foamed article comprises placing an article comprising a foamable material and carbon dioxide in a vessel, maintaining the vessel at an infusing pressure and infusing 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 first intermediary holding temperature and first intermediary holding pressure, and subjecting the article to an expanding pressure and expanding 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.

Methods of manufacturing a belt include laying up a first elastomeric layer of a belt build on a mandrel, laying up a tensile reinforcement layer on the first elastomeric layer, where the tensile reinforcement layer contains cords coated with a water based urethane compound, and laying up a second elastomeric layer on the first elastomeric layer and the tensile reinforcement layer. The belt build may be cured in a profile-forming mold, and afterward, cut to a predetermined belt width and/or length.

A bead foam is made of thermoplastic polyurethane, a styrene polymer, and an impact modifier. Moldings can be produced from the bead foam and processes for the production of the bead foams and moldings can be utilized. The moldings can be used for shoe intermediate soles, shoe insoles, shoe combisoles, cushioning elements for shoes, bicycle saddles, bicycle tires, damping elements, cushioning, mattresses, underlays, grips, protective films, in components in the automobile-interior sector or automobile-exterior sector, balls and sports equipment, or as floorcovering.

A thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) resin powder includes spherical particles of a thermoplastic elastomer resin that have an average particle diameter of 50 μm to 300 μm.

The present disclosure relates to a composition comprising a thermoplastic vulcanizate, a propylene-based elastomer and a foaming agent, and to a foamed material comprising said composition. The foamed material has increased tensile properties and tension set while attaining comparable effects of reduction of weight.

Melt emulsification may be employed to form elastomeric particulates in a narrow size range when nanoparticles and a sulfonate surfactant are included as emulsion stabilizers. Such processes may comprise combining a polyurethane polymer, a sulfonate surfactant, and nanoparticles with a carrier fluid at a heating temperature at or above a melting point or softening temperature of the polyurethane polymer, applying sufficient shear to disperse the polyurethane polymer as liquefied droplets in the presence of the nanoparticles in the carrier fluid at the heating temperature, cooling the carrier fluid at least until elastomeric particulates in a solidified state form, and separating the elastomeric particulates from the carrier fluid. The polyurethane polymer defines a core and an outer surface of the elastomeric particulates, and the nanoparticles are associated with the outer surface. The elastomeric particulates may have a span of about 0.9 or less.

An expanded molded article comprising a fused body of expanded particles including a non-crosslinked olefin-based elastomer and not including a mineral oil, the expanded molded article having a density of 0.015 to 0.5 g/cm.sup.3 and a compression set of 25% or less.

Amide-based elastomer expanded particles comprising, as a base resin, a non-crosslinked amide-based elastomer having a Shore D hardness of 65 or less, and having an average cell diameter of 20 to 250 μm.