Disclosed herein is a mat comprising a first foam layer; and a sanitizer; where the first foam layer is saturated with the sanitizer. Disclosed herein too is a method of manufacturing a mat comprising immersing a foam in a sanitizer; and saturating the foam with the sanitizer.

A laminate, including a substrate having a microstructure on a surface thereof; and a coating layer formed on the substrate and encapsulating the microstructure of the substrate. A glass transition temperature T.sub.1 of the substrate is higher than a glass transition temperature T.sub.2 of the coating layer. A method of producing an ophthalmic lens, including deforming the laminate into a shape of the ophthalmic lens by applying heat and/or pressure at a temperature of lower than T.sub.1.

Provided is a glass fiber-reinforced resin plate that comprises glass fiber having a flat cross-sectional shape and has an improved elastic modulus in the TD direction. The glass fiber-reinforced resin plate comprises a glass fiber having a flat cross-sectional shape and a resin, in which the glass fiber having a flat cross-sectional shape has a minor axis of 4.5 to 10.5 μm, a major axis of 22.0 to 80.0 μm, a ratio of the major axis to the minor axis (major axis/minor axis) R in the range of 4.5 to 10.0; the glass fiber content C is 5.0 to 75.0% by mass; the thickness H is in the range of more than 0.5 mm and 10.0 mm or less; and the C and H satisfy the following formula (1).

30.0≤H×C≤120.0  (1).

A process for chemically modifying a polymeric part in order to impart antistatic properties thereto or to improve these properties, comprising the following steps: a step of reacting a polymeric part comprising at least one polymer comprising, as reactive groups, amine groups and/or hydroxyl groups, with a functional compound, also called first compound, comprising at least one isocyanate group and at least one heterocyclic type polymerisable group, the isocyanate groups covalently reacting with all or part of the amine groups and/or hydroxyl groups of the polymer(s), whereby this results in a polymeric part that is covalently bonded to residues of the functional compound; from the heterocyclic type polymerisable groups of the residues of the functional compound, a step of polymerising a second compound comprising at least one heterocyclic type polymerisable group in the presence of a metal complex, the reaction step and the polymerisation step being carried out in the presence of at least one supercritical fluid.

The compound (A) is represented by formula (1).

R.sub.1O—R.sub.2—OR.sub.1   (1)

(In formula (1), each R.sub.1 independently represents a group represented by formula (2), or a hydrogen atom, and R.sub.2 represents a linear or branched alkylene group having 1 to 16 carbon atoms, or a linear or branched alkenylene group having 2 to 16 carbon atoms, provided that at least one R.sub.1 is a group represented by formula (2).)

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(In formula (2), -* represents a bonding hand.)

A method for producing a fiber-reinforced composite material containing a polyimide resin (A) having a predetermined repeating unit and a continuous reinforcing fiber (B), the method including the following steps (I) and (II) in this order: step (I): a step of laminating at least one polyimide resin (A) layer and at least one continuous reinforcing fiber (B) layer to obtain a laminated product; and step (II): a step of molding the laminated product by heating and pressurizing under a condition where a working parameter X expressed by the following expression (i) is 35 or more and 87 or less:

X=(Tp−Tm).sup.3×P.sup.1/2/1000  (i)

wherein in the expression (i), Tp represents a temperature (° C.) during the molding, Tm represents a melting point (° C.) of the polyimide resin (A), and P represents a press pressure (MPa) during the molding.

Described herein are physically crosslinked, closed cell continuous multilayer foam structures that includes a foam layer comprising polypropylene, polyethylene, or a combination of polypropylene and polyethylene and a polyamide cap layer. The multilayer foam structure can be obtained by coextruding a multilayer structure comprising at least one foam composition layer and at least one cap composition layer, irradiating the coextruded structure with ionizing radiation, and continuously foaming the irradiated structure.

Mesoporous poly (aryl ether ketone) articles are formed from blends of poly (aryl ether ketones) with pore forming additives by melt processing, and can be in the form of a monofilament, disc, film, microcapillary or other complex shapes. The method of formation provides for preparation of poly (aryl ether ketone) articles with high degree of surface area and uniform nanometer pore size. The preferred poly (aryl ether ketone)s are poly (ether ketone) and poly (ether ether ketone). The mesoporous articles formed by the method of the present invention are useful for a broad range of applications, including molecular separations and organic solvent filtration.

Novel ways of degrading polyamides including Nylon 6 and Nylon 6,6 (polycaprolactam) are disclosed. Microorganisms originally sourced from the environment are utilized to produce an enzyme(s) useful for degrading polyamides. can be degraded by a cutinase, a lipase, or a combination thereof.

Ion exchange membranes obtainable by curing a composition comprising: (a) a monomer comprising an aromatic group and at least one polymerisable ethylenically unsaturated group; (b) a photoinitiator which has an absorption maximum at a wavelength longer than 380 nm when measured in one or more of the following solvents at a temperature of 23° C.: water, ethanol and toluene; and (c) at least one co-initiator.