The present invention relates to a process for preparing a porous material, at least providing a mixture (I) comprising a composition (A) comprising components suitable to form an organic gel and a solvent(B), reacting the components in the composition (A) in the presence of the solvent (B) to form a gel, and drying of the gel obtained in step b), wherein the composition (A) comprises a catalyst (C) selected from the group consisting of alkali metal and earth alkali metal salts of a saturated or unsaturated monocarboxylic acid with 4 to 8 carbon atoms. The invention further relates to the porous materials which can be obtained in this way and the use of the porous materials as thermal insulation material and in vacuum insulation panels, in particular in interior or exterior thermal insulation systems.

Provided herein is a composite material that includes at least one thermoresponsive polymer and at least one organic foam material. Further provided herein is a method for producing the composite material and also to the use of the composite material for cooling and for regulating temperature.

The present invention relates to polymers having dynamic urea bonds and more specifically to polymers having hindered urea bonds (HUBs) with fast hydrolytic kinetics. These urea bonds are aryl-substituted, i.e. aromatic-substituted hindered urea bonds, that demonstrate pH independent hydrolytic kinetics, such that they consistently and rapidly hydrolyze in water from pH 2 to 11. The urea bond dissociation for these materials is generally such that k.sub.1>h.sup.1, which is two orders of magnitudes faster than for aliphatic hindered ureas. The present invention also relates to hydrolytically reversible or degradable linear, branched or network polymers incorporating these HUBs and to precursors for incorporation of these HUBs into these polymers. The technology can be applied to and integrated into a variety of polymers, such as polyureas, polyurethanes, polyesters, polyamides, polycarbonates, polyamines, and polysaccharides to make linear, branched, and cross-linked polymers. Polymers incorporating these HUBs can be used in a wide variety of applications including for example, environmentally compatible packaging materials and biomedical applications, such as drug delivery systems and tissue engineering. In other embodiments, the HUBs can be used in self-healing polymers.

The present invention relates to a process for producing porous materials, which comprises providing a mixture comprising a composition (A) comprising components suitable to form an organic gel and a solvent mixture (B), reacting the components in the composition (A) in the presence of the solvent mixture (B) to form a gel and drying of the gel, wherein the solvent mixture (B) is a mixture of at least two solvents and the solvent mixture has a Hansen solubility parameter ?.sub.H in the range of 3.0 to 5.0 MPa-.sup.1, determined using the parameter ?.sub.H of each solvent of the solvent mixture (B). The invention further relates to the porous materials which can be obtained in this way and the use of the porous materials as thermal insulation material and in vacuum insulation panels.

Disclosed herein are novel methods to handling carbon nano materials and forming composite materials from carbon nano materials and polymers such as polyurethane and polyurea materials. Such novel methods provide a number of benefits to a polymer processor and end user of any resulting materials or products. As disclosed herein, methods of incorporating carbon nano materials into polymers can achieve benefits regarding electrical properties, modulus, and thermal stability as well as other benefits. However, enhancing and creating such improvements in material properties must be done with care because creating or enhancing one property does not always result in the creation or improvement in other properties. For example, thermal stability, electrical conductivity, and mechanical properties can be optimized in different ways, and at different loadings of differing carbon nano materials. Thus, it is necessary to carefully consider a number of factors when designing methods for incorporating carbon nano materials into polymers.

Systems and methods for producing aerogel materials are generally described. In certain cases, the methods do not require supercritical drying as part of the manufacturing process. In some cases, certain combinations of materials, solvents, and/or processing steps may be synergistically employed so as to enable manufacture of large (e.g., meter-scale), substantially crack free, and/or mechanically strong aerogel materials.

Provided are an aqueous dispersion including a microcapsule and water, the microcapsule including: a shell having a three-dimensional cross-linked structure containing: at least one bond selected from a urethane bond or a urea bond; and an anionic group and a nonionic group as hydrophilic groups; and a core, at least one of the shell having a photopolymerization initiating group or the core containing a photopolymerization initiator being satisfied, and at least one of the shell having a polymerizable group or the core containing a polymerizable compound being satisfied; a method for manufacturing the same; and an image forming method using the aqueous dispersion.

Provided are an aqueous dispersion including a microcapsule, and water, the microcapsule including: a shell having a three-dimensional cross-linked structure containing at least one neutralized acid group and at least one bond selected from a urethane bond or a urea bond, in which a degree of neutralization of the acid group contained in the three-dimensional cross-linked structure is from 50% to 100%; and a core, at least one of the shell or the core has a polymerizable group; a method for manufacturing the same; and an image forming method using the aqueous dispersion.

A polyurethane foam, polyisocyanurate foam or polyurea foam is obtainable from the reaction of a mixture comprising A) a compound reactive towards isocyanate (NCO-reactive compound); B) a blowing agent selected from the group comprising linear, branched or cyclic C1 to C6 hydrocarbons, linear,branched or cyclic C1 to C6 fluorocarbons, N.sub.2, O.sub.2, argon and/or CO.sub.2, where the blowing agent B) is present in the supercritical or near-critical state; C) a polyisocyanate; D) an amphiphilic isocyanate; and E) optionally a surfactant and F) optionally other auxiliaries and additives. The invention further relates to the production of this polyurethane foam, where the blowing agent is emulsified in the isocyanate component containing amphiphilic isocyanate.

The present invention relates to a process for producing flame-retardant porous materials comprising the following steps: (a) reacting at least one polyfunctional isocyanate (a1) and at least one polyfunctional aromatic amine (a2) in an organic solvent optionally in the presence of water as component (a3) and optionally in the presence of at least one catalyst (a5); and then (b) removing the organic solvent to obtain the organic porous material,
where step (a) is carried out in the presence of at least one organic flame retardant as component (a4), where this flame retardant is soluble in the solvent. The invention further relates to the porous materials thus obtainable, and also to the use of the porous materials for thermal insulation.