The present invention concerns a process for manufacturing a thermoformable plasticized composite containing cellulose fiber and polylactide by blending the dry cellulose fiber and a compatibilizer in a compactor into pellets, and subsequently reacting the reactive compatibilizer and the mixture of cellulose fiber and polylactide by compounding. The invention also concerns a composite manufactured using said process, as well as further processed products.

A prepreg composite that comprises a fibrous substrate and polymer composition impregnated within the substrate is provided. The substrate has a thickness of from about 5 to about 500 micrometers and contains glass fibers. The polymer composition includes a crosslinked thermoset aromatic polyester. The aromatic polyester includes repeating units derived from an aromatic hydroxycarboxylic acid, aromatic dicarboxycarboxylic acid, aromatic diol, aromatic amide, aromatic amine, or a combination thereof.

The invention relates to an article comprising a monolayer or multilayer thermoplastic material, said material comprises (i) 38.00 to 99.95%, preferably 67.00 to 99.9%, more preferably 57.00 to 99.85%, by weight of polylactic acid, (ii) 0.05 to 4.90%, preferably 0.10 to 2.90%, more preferably 0.15 to 2.00%, even more preferably 0.2 to 1.00%, most preferably 0.25 to 0.75%, by weight of an epoxidized vegetable oil; (iii) 0 to 60.00%, preferably 0 to 40.00%, more preferably 0 to 30.00%, by weight of further additives selected from the group consisting of impact modifiers, plasticisers, crosslinking agents, foaming agents, fillers, colorants, stabilizers, lubricants, and mixtures thereof, the weight percentages being relative to total weight of the monolayer or multilayer thermoplastic material and adding up to 100%.

A method for preparing a shaped polylactide article including stereocomplex polylactide and to a shaped article obtainable by the method. In particular the method comprises melt mixing and solidifying poly-L-lactide (PLLA) and poly-D-lactide (PDLA) homopolymers in a weight ratio whereby one of the homopolymers is in excess, subsequently solid mixing the so obtained blend with additional homopolymer, and shaping the obtained solids mixture.

The invention refers to a method for producing expanded polymer pellets, which comprises the following steps: melting a polymer comprising a polyamide; adding at least one blowing agent; expanding the melt through at least one die for producing an expanded polymer; and pelletizing the expanded polymer. The invention further concerns polymer pellets produced with the method as well as their use, e.g. for the production of cushioning elements for sports apparel, such as for producing soles or parts of soles of sports shoes. A further aspect of the invention concerns a method for the manufacture of molded components, comprising loading pellets of an expanded polymer material into a mold, and connecting the pellets by providing heat energy, wherein the expanded polymer material of the pellets or beads comprises a chain extender. The molded components may be used in broad ranges of application.

A powder comprising hydrolyzable resin particle, containing particles which do not pass through a sieve having an opening size of 500 μm in an amount of 50 mass % or more and having a repose angle of 51° or more. This powder is preferably used as an additive for drilling to enhance the drilling properties of a drilling fluid and improve the retentivity of a fracture extending from a winze.

The present invention relates to a process for extraction of bioplastic from bioplastic-producing microbial cells, comprising the steps of: A. providing bioplastic producing microbial cells comprising bioplastic; B. providing bacterial cells selected from the species Bacillus pumilus; C. extracting the bioplastic by admixing the bioplastic-producing microbial cells of step A and the bacterial cells of step B and allowing reaction. The present invention further relates to the process of producing monomers from said bioplastics by depolymerization.

This invention is directed to β-1-6-glucans, compositions and devices comprising the same, and methods of use thereof in modulating immune responses. The β-1-6-glucans of certain embodiments of the invention are enriched for O-acetylated groups and/or conjugated to a solid support or linked to a targeting moiety.

Provided is a polyhydroxyalkanoate resin composition containing a polyhydroxyalkanoate resin component. In differential scanning calorimetry of the resin composition, a highest melting peak temperature is 130° C. or higher, and a total crystalline melting enthalpy calculated from all melting peaks is in the range of 20 to 65 J/g. Preferably, the polyhydroxyalkanoate resin component is a mixture of at least two polyhydroxyalkanoate resins differing in crystalline melting enthalpy.

Disclosed herein are a biodegradable polymer microparticle for a filler comprising a core and a shell, wherein the core contains secondary particles including aggregates of a plurality of primary particles, the shell has a raspberry shaped structure, an average particle diameter (D.sub.50) of the biodegradable polymer microparticle ranges from 20 to 200 μm, a manufacturing method thereof, a freeze-dried body including the same, and filler injection including the same.