Provided is a polycarbonate-modified acrylic resin obtained by reacting an unsaturated monomer mixture (B), which contains, as essential components, methyl methacrylate, an unsaturated monomer (b1) having a hydroxyl group, an unsaturated monomer (b2) having a carboxyl group, and an unsaturated monomer (b3) having an alkyl group of 2 to 8 carbon atoms, in the presence of a polycarbonate diol (A) which is produced using 1,5-pentanediol and 1,6-hexanediol as starting materials, characterized in that the mass ratio of the unsaturated monomer (b2) in the unsaturated monomer mixture (B) is in the range of 0.1% to 1.6% by mass. The polycarbonate-modified acrylic resin has high adhesion to a plastic substrate and is capable of forming a coating film having excellent abrasion resistance, chemical resistance, feel, and appearance. Therefore, the polycarbonate-modified acrylic resin can be suitably used for a coating.

A crosslinked composition for use as a sheath layer of cable is obtained from polymer blend having ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA), nitrile rubber (NBR) and crosslinking agent. The polymer blend further has a reactive polymer containing at least one nucleophilic or electrophilic functional group and a reactive compound selected from amphiphilic compound containing at least one nucleophilic or electrophilic functional group that can chemically react with nucleophilic or electrophilic functional group of the reactive polymer.

An initiator nanoconstituent comprises a nanoparticle covalently bonded to a group having a free radical. The nanoparticle may be bonded to the group via an ether group or an amide group. The initiator nanoconstituent may be formed in situ, in a mixture comprising an elastomer material to be crosslinked. The initiator nanoconstituent is formed from an organic nanoconstituent compound that includes the nanoparticle and an organic group that does not include a free radical at the time the mixture is formed. At least one chemical bond of the organic nanoconstituent compound may be ruptured, in situ, to form the initiator nanoconstituent, which may then bond with polymer molecules of the elastomer material and form a crosslinked elastomer material. Downhole tools or components thereof may include such crosslinked elastomer material.

The invention relates to a material including a support consisting of a porous composite material including at least one polymer phase forming a binder based on at least one polymer selected from thermoplastic polymers, elastomers, and elastomer thermoplastics, and at least one filler selected from thermally conductive fillers, the pores of the support consisting of the porous composite material being partially or entirely filled with at least one phase-change material. The invention also relates to a method for producing said material.

An carboxylated nitrile-butadiene rubber latex formulation composed of a blend of a first acrylonitrile terpolymer and a second acrylonitrile terpolymer, wherein: the acrylonitrile content of the blended terpolymers is between 17 and 45% by weight, the methacrylic acid content of the blended terpolymers is less than 15% by weight, and the remaining balance of the terpolymers being butadiene. The invention also includes an elastomeric nitrile rubber article made from the formulation.

Pulverulent mixtures containing at least one nitrite rubber and at least one release agent, which are characterized by a particular average particle diameter, are provided. These mixtures have particularly low emissions and are outstandingly suitable for producing materials and components for indoor applications.

A thermoplastic copolymer is made by first de-vulcanizing a sulfur-crosslinked elastomeric material to produce a liquid phase component. The liquid phase component is subsequently mixed with a compatible thermoplastic polymer at a temperature above its melting point thereof, and the resulting mixture is cooled to produce a solid product.

An electrically conductive rubber composition is provided, which is usable for production of a transfer roller of a highly flexible foam satisfying requirements for cost reduction and weight reduction and having smaller foam cell diameters and, hence, ensuring higher-quality image formation with smaller environment-dependent variations in roller resistance. A transfer roller produced from the electrically conductive rubber composition, a production method for the transfer roller, and an image forming apparatus including the transfer roller are also provided. The electrically conductive rubber composition contains a rubber component including SBR and/or BR, EPDM and epichlorohydrin rubber, a crosslinking component, and 4 to 6 parts by mass of a foaming agent and 1.5 to 2.7 parts by mass of a foaming assisting agent based on 100 parts by mass of the rubber component. The transfer roller (1) is produced by extruding the electrically conductive rubber composition into a tubular body and performing an in-can vulcanization process on the tubular body. The image forming apparatus incorporates the transfer roller.

Provided are reinforcing fibers using an adhesive component that does not contain resorcin and formalin, particularly reinforcing fibers that are excellent in adhesiveness to a high-polar rubber adherend, a method for producing the same, and an elastomer product using the reinforcing fibers. Reinforcing fibers include an adhesive layer formed from an adhesive component containing a liquid conjugated diene-based rubber and a crosslinking agent on at least a part of a fiber surface, and a solubility parameter (SP value) of the liquid conjugated diene-based rubber that is calculated by a Fedors method is larger than 9.0 (cal/cm.sup.3).sup.1/2.

An aqueous adhesive using an adhesive component that does not contain resorcin and formalin, particularly an aqueous adhesive that is excellent in adhesiveness to fibers and an elastomer and can suppress process contamination in a process of producing reinforcing fibers, reinforcing fibers using the same, and an elastomer product using the reinforcing fibers are provided. An aqueous adhesive for adhesion between fibers and an elastomer includes: an oil-in-water emulsion (A) containing a liquid conjugated diene-based rubber and a surfactant, and an aqueous solution or aqueous dispersion (B) of a crosslinking agent.