Thermoplastic polymer particles directly cross-linked together or cross-linked via a separate and independent polymer network to form an inter-penetrating network are disclosed herein, along with methods of manufacturing and use as interleaf tougheners of pre-pregs and composite articles.

A polymer blend material comprising: (i) a lignin component having a weight-average molecular weight of up to 1,000,000 g/mol; and (ii) an acrylonitrile-containing copolymer rubber component comprising acrylonitrile units in combination with diene monomer units, and having an acrylonitrile content of at least 20 mol %; wherein said lignin component is present in an amount of at least 5 wt % and up to about 95 wt % by total weight of components (i) and (ii); and said polymer blend material possesses a tensile yield stress of at least 5 MPa, or a tensile stress of at least 5 MPa at 10% elongation, or a tensile stress of at least 5 MPa at 100% elongation. Methods for producing the polymer blend, molded forms thereof, and articles thereof, are also described.

A masterbatch composition of elastomer and from 20 to 100 parts per hundred parts elastomer of fibrous micropulp wherein the micropulp has fibers with a volume weighted average fiber length of from 20 to 200 micrometers as measured by laser diffraction, a relative specific surface area of from 30 to 600 square meter per gram as measured by nuclear magnetic resonance and the fibers selected from the group consisting of aromatic polyamide, aromatic copolyamide, polyacrylonitrile and polyazole.

A high-pressure, large-bore bonded flexible rubber pipe resistant to aggressive chemicals and gases, particularly for conveying gas or oil, the flexible pipe having a liner made of poly(vinylidene-fluoride) homopolymer or copolymer wherein a hydrogenated nitrile rubber-based, peroxide-vulcanized rubber compound 2 is bonded to the poly(vinylidene-fluoride) liner, which has a Mooney 05, 150 C. scorch time of at least 10 minutes. Further, a method for manufacturing such hoses, the method including vulcanization performed at a temperature of at least 160 C.

A polymer blend material comprising the following components: (i) a lignin component; (ii) a nitrile butadiene rubber component; and (iii) a filler component comprising ceramic particles and/or carbon particles having an average primary particle size of 1-100 nm, wherein component (iii) is present in an amount of 0.1-10 wt % by weight of components (i) and (ii); wherein component (i) is present in an amount of about 5 wt % to about 95 wt % by weight of components (i) and (ii), and wherein the blend material may optionally include a PAN-containing homopolymer or copolymer as an additional component. Methods for producing the polymer blend, molded forms thereof, and articles thereof, are also described. Methods for bonding surfaces together by use of the polymer blend are also described.

Disclosed are thermoplastic vulcanizates comprising a plastic phase and a rubber phase and process for preparing such thermoplastic vulcanizates, wherein the plastic phase comprises a thermoplastic polymer and the rubber phase comprises a carboxylated nitrile rubber.

An electrically conductive rubber composition is provided, which comprises a rubber component including an SBR, an EPDM and an epichlorohydrin rubber, a crosslinking component and an azodicarbonamide foaming agent having an average particle diameter of 3 to 11 m. The azodicarbonamide foaming agent is blended in a proportion of 0.5 to 8 parts by mass based on 100 parts by mass of the overall rubber component. A transfer roller (1) is produced by extruding the electrically conductive rubber composition into an elongated tubular body, and continuously feeding out the tubular body in the elongated state without cutting the tubular body to continuously pass the tubular body through a microwave crosslinking device and a hot air crosslinking device to continuously foam and crosslink the tubular body.

A toner supply roller is provided which has the most uniform and greatest possible foam cell diameters and a lower hardness particularly even in a lower-temperature and lower-humidity environment as compared with the conventional art and is less liable to suffer from imaging failure such as uneven density and white streaks. An image forming apparatus employing the toner supply roller is also provided. The toner supply roller (1) is produced by preparing a rubber composition which contains a rubber component including an epichlorohydrin rubber and an acrylonitrile butadiene rubber, an electrically conductive carbon black, a crosslinking component and a foaming component and, while extruding the rubber composition into a tubular body, continuously foaming and crosslinking the rubber composition of the tubular body by a continuous crosslinking apparatus including a microwave crosslinking device and a hot air crosslinking device. The image forming apparatus incorporates the toner supply roller (1).

There is provided a magnetic rubber composition comprising a rubber (A), a thermosetting resin (B) and a magnetic powder (C), wherein a mass ratio (A/B) of the rubber (A) to the thermosetting resin (B) is 0.2 to 5, and a mass ratio [C/(A+B)] of the magnetic powder (C) to the total mass of the rubber (A) and the thermosetting resin (B) is 0.5 to 20. It gives a magnetic rubber molded article excellent in flexibility and abrasion resistance, and a magnetic encoder produced therewith.

A polymer blend material comprising: (i) a lignin component having a weight-average molecular weight of up to 1,000,000 g/mol; and (ii) an acrylonitrile-containing copolymer rubber component comprising acrylonitrile units in combination with diene monomer units, and having an acrylonitrile content of at least 20 mol %; wherein said lignin component is present in an amount of at least 5 wt % and up to about 95 wt % by total weight of components (i) and (ii); and said polymer blend material possesses a tensile yield stress of at least 5 MPa, or a tensile stress of at least 5 MPa at 10% elongation, or a tensile stress of at least 5 MPa at 100% elongation. Methods for producing the polymer blend, molded forms thereof, and articles thereof, are also described.