Superabsorbent polymer material comprising cross-linked polyacrylic acid and salts thereof. The superabsorbent polymer material further comprising at least 3.0 weight-%, based on the total weight of the superabsorbent polymer material, of soluble polyacrylic acid polymers. A method for making such superabsorbent polymer materials is also disclosed.

A method of recycling a large amount of insole scrap stack is proposed. The method includes forming a plate-shaped stack made of flat-plate-shaped foam and woven fabric, separating an insole scrap stack from the plate-shaped stack, and forming a pulverized insole scrap having an average diameter of 0.05 to 0.7 mm by cool-pulverizing or freeze-pulverizing the insole scrap stack at 10° C. or less. The pulverized insole scrap may be used for manufacturing foam.

A closed loop recycling process of manufacturing a foam part includes dispersing a filler material recycled from an additive manufacturing (AM) process in at least one foam reactant and pouring or injecting the at least one foam reactant with the filler material into a mold and forming the foam part. The foam part has a foam matrix with between 2.5 wt. % and 30 wt. % of the filler material. The filler material can be a recycled powder from a selective laser sintering process that is not graded (i.e., sized) before being dispersed in the at least one foam reactant. For example, the recycled powder can be a recycled polyamide 12 (rPA12) powder with an average particle diameter of less than 100 micrometers. Also, the least one foam reactant can be a polyol reactant and an isocyanate reactant such that a polyurethane foam matrix with recycled rPA12 filler material is formed.

A system including an injector, a press, and a robotic conveyance is used to form a physically foamed article of footwear component from a single-phase solution of a polymeric composition and a supercritical fluid. The parameters and features of the system are configured for the formation of the footwear component in an automated manner with enhanced throughput by the system.

A method may include reprocessing a polymer composition comprising a crosslinked polymeric composition, wherein the crosslinked polymeric composition comprises a matrix polymer having a polar polymer internal phase that is selectively crosslinked with a crosslinking agent, wherein the reprocessed polymer composition retains an environmental stress cracking resistance within 60% of the value for the initial polymer composition when measured according to ASTM D-1693 procedure B and wherein the reprocessed polymer composition presents a Normalized Property Balance Index (N.sub.PBI) greater than about 1.0.

Provided is a polyolefin composition including a) at least one polypropylene homopolymer; b) a blend of recycled plastic material including polypropylene and polyethylene in a ratio between 3:7 and 10:1, which is recovered from a waste plastic material derived from post-consumer and/or post-industrial waste; c) glass fibers; and d) at least one coupling agent. The polyolefin composition has a melt flow rate MFR.sub.2 (230° C., 2.16 kg, measured according to ISO 1133) of at least 2 g/10 min; a tensile modulus (ISO 527-2) of at least 4 GPa, and an impact strength (ISO179-1, Charpy 1eA +23° C.) of at least 6 kJ/m.sup.2.

A thermoplastic resin foam including a thermoplastic resin, wherein: the thermoplastic resin includes a polyester resin and a polyimide resin, and the thermoplastic resin foam shows a single glass transition temperature Tg. The glass transition temperature of the thermoplastic resin is preferably 80 to 130° C. An absolute value of difference between heat absorption and heat generation, each determined by heat flux differential scanning calorimetry at a heating rate of 10° C./min, is preferably 3 to 35 J/g.

A method for making polymeric pellets and films therefrom is disclosed. The polymeric pellets and films include a mixture of at least three distinct polymeric materials along with a compatibilizer and a rheology modifier.

Physical foaming a footwear component with a single-phase solution of a polymeric composition and a supercritical fluid is provided. The method include temperature conditioning a mold and then engaging the mold with a robot that conveys the mold to a press. At the press a gas counter pressure is applied to a cavity of the mold before injecting a single-phase solution of a polymeric composition and a supercritical fluid into the cavity of the mold. The process continues with releasing the gas counter pressure from the cavity of the mold and then removing the footwear component from the cavity of the mold. The parameters of the method are configured for the formation of the footwear component in an automated manner.