The subject matter described herein relates to methods for polymer xanthylation and the xanthylated polymers produced by such methods. Subsequent replacement of the xanthylate moiety allows facile entry into functionalized polymers.

The invention relates to a non-cross-linked copolymer foam with polyamide blocks and polyether blocks, wherein: the polyamide blocks of the copolymer have an average molar mass of from 200 to 1,500 g/mol; the polyether blocks of the copolymer have an average molar mass of from 800 to 2,500 g/mol; and the weight ratio of the polyamide blocks to the polyether blocks of the copolymer is from 0.1 to 0.9. The invention also relates to a method for manufacturing said foam and items manufactured from said foam.

Embodiments herein described provide devices for identifying and collecting rare cells or cells which occur at low frequency in the body of a subject, such as, antigen-specific cells or disease-specific cells. More specifically, the devices are useful for trapping immune cells and the devices contain a physiologically-compatible porous polymer scaffold, a plurality of antigens, and an immune cell-recruiting agent, wherein the plurality of antigens and the immune cell recruiting agent attract and trap the immune cell in the device. Also provided are pharmaceutical compositions, kits, and packages containing such devices. Additional embodiments relate to methods for making the devices, compositions, and kits/packages. Further embodiments relate to methods for using the devices, compositions, and/or kits in the diagnosis or therapy of diseases such as autoimmune diseases or cancers.

Described herein is a process for producing water soluble polymer films by low temperature calendering of a polymer composition including an ethylene oxide homo- or copolymer. Also described herein are polymer films obtainable by said process and methods of using the polymer films, in particular for the portionwise packaging of detergents and cleaners.

Use of a sizing agent having a heat weight loss B-1 of 65% or more as determined by a specific measurement method, or a sizing agent containing a surfactant and a compound represented by formula (1):

##STR00001##

Hydrogels that degrade under appropriate conditions of pH and temperature by virtue of crosslinking compounds that cleave through an elimination reaction are described. The hydrogels may be used for delivery of various agents, such as pharmaceuticals.

The invention relates to a noncrosslinked block copolymer foam, comprising at least one rigid block and at least one flexible block, in which the copolymer includes at least one carboxylic acid chain end blocked with a polycarbodiimide. The invention also relates to a process for manufacturing this foam and to articles manufactured therefrom.

The present invention relates to an extrudable polymer composition comprising: 99.5 to 99.95% of at least one hard-soft block copolymer comprising: at least 25% by weight of soft block polyethylene glycol (PEG) with functionality equal to 2, with respect to the total weight in copolymer; from 0.05 to 0.5% by weight of at least one polyol comprising at least three hydroxyl groups, with respect to the total weight of the composition; characterised in that: the weight-average molecular mass of said copolymer is at least equal to 100,000 g/mol; and the weight-average molecular mass of the polyol is at least equal to 1000 g/mol; and said at least one polyol binding hard copolymer blocks by ester bonds. This invention relates in particular to the use of said composition in extrusion processes for manufacturing vapour-permeable objects.

The invention relates to a process for manufacturing a copolymer foam containing polyamide blocks and polyether blocks, comprising the following steps: mixing the copolymer melt with a blowing agent, said copolymer having a coefficient of thermal diffusivity a and a crystallization temperature T.sub.c; providing a mold of thickness h at a temperature T.sub.m; injecting the mixture of the copolymer and of the blowing agent at a temperature T.sub.p, into the closed mold; foaming the mixture by opening the mold;
in which the maintenance time between the injection of the mixture of the copolymer and of the blowing agent into the closed mold and the opening of the mold is within the range extending from (t.sub.opt−25%) to (t.sub.opt+25%),
t.sub.opt being expressed in seconds and obtained by equation (I):

[00001]$\begin{array}{cc}{t}_{\mathrm{opt}}=-\frac{1}{{\pi }^2}\frac{h^2}{a}\ln \left(\frac{\pi }{4}\frac{T_m-T_c}{T_m-T_p}\right),& \left(I\right)\end{array}$

in which a is expressed in m.sup.2/s, h is expressed in m and T.sub.m, T.sub.c and T.sub.p are expressed in ° C.

Disclosed is a method for inducing orderly arrangement by means of polymer crystallization, and the use thereof in preparing a composite film. Firstly, monodisperse PS-DVB nano-microspheres of different sizes are prepared by means of soap-free emulsion polymerization; the PS-DVB nano-microspheres prepared above are used as raw material, and PEG aqueous solutions with different concentrations are added to induce an orderly arrangement of the nano-microspheres by means of solution-state PEG crystallization; and characterized by using scanning electron microscopy and polarizing microscopy. The method is simple in terms of operation and is widely applicable. By further modifying the orderly arrangement of the nano-microspheres, the composite material can be applied to different fields. The replacement of a substrate for crystalline polymer which inducing the orderly arrangement of the nano-microspheres enables the nano-composite material to become a thin film material or a bulk material modified and reinforced by the nano-microspheres.