A polycarbodiimide composition is obtained by subjecting a reaction product of a straight-chain aliphatic diisocyanate and alcohols to carbodiimidization, and the alcohols include a polyol and a monool; in the alcohols, a mole ratio (hydroxyl group derived from polyol/hydroxyl group derived from monool) of the amount of hydroxyl groups derived from the polyol to the amount of hydroxyl groups derived from the monool is below 2.0; and a carbodiimide equivalent of the polycarbodiimide composition is 300 g/mol or more and below 550 g/mol.

The present invention relates to aqueous alkyd resin dispersions comprising a) a short oil alkyd resin comprising, in its fatty acid component a1), at least one polyunsaturated fatty monoacid a11) having at least two unsaturations per molecule and comprising at least 35% by weight of a monoacid a111) having conjugated unsaturations, the content by weight of said fatty monoacid a111), with respect to said alkyd resin, being at least 5%, preferably from 5% to 40% and more preferably from 5% to 35%, and b) at least one anionic phosphate surfactant. The invention also covers a preparation process and its use in decorative coatings. The coatings based on these aqueous dispersions exhibit improved performance qualities in resistance to blocking and yellowing, in development of hardness and in gloss.

The present invention relates to a method of growing plants in a coherent growth substrate product, the method comprising: providing at least one coherent growth substrate product comprising man-made vitreous fibres (MMVF) bonded with a cured aqueous binder composition free of phenol and formaldehyde; positioning one or more seeds, seedlings, cuttings or plants in contact with the growth substrate product; irrigating the growth substrate product;

wherein the aqueous binder composition prior to curing comprises; a component (i) in form of one or more lignosulfonate lignins having a carboxylic acid group content of 0.03 to 1.4 mmol/g, based on the dry weight of the lignosulfonate lignins, a component (ii) in form of one or more cross-linkers.

An aqueous dispersion of multistage polymer particles comprising at least three polymers with low minimum film formation temperature and also providing aqueous coating compositions with balanced properties.

A method for preparing a treated cellulosic material comprising: providing a cellulosic material; a first treatment protocol comprising impregnating the cellulosic material with an aqueous solution comprising a polymer, the polymer comprising a water-soluble polyetheramine; and a second treatment protocol comprising impregnating the cellulosic material with a modifying agent, the modifying agent comprising an aqueous dispersion comprising an epoxy-containing resin.

Hollow particles having a shell including at least one layer, wherein the at least one layer contains a vinyl-based resin, and contains a phosphorus atom and/or a sulfur atom.

A method of making a bijel includes dispersing surface-active nanoparticles in a ternary liquid mixture. The ternary liquid mixture includes a hydrophilic liquid, a hydrophobic liquid, and a solvent. The ternary liquid mixture is contacted with water. A bijel includes a stable mixture of two immiscible liquids separated by an interfacial layer of colloidal particles. The bijel has temperature-independent stability, and the domain sizes are below one micrometer.

The present invention relates to an aqueous hard resin solution for the use in a water-based overprint varnish, wherein the aqueous hard resin solution contains water, at least one hard resin and at least one amine compound, wherein at least one of the at least one amine compound has one amino group, at least two hydroxyl groups and at least one C.sub.n-including group, with n being an integer of 3 or more.

This invention provides an aqueous resin composition mixture of polyolefin and acrylic for paints, inks, adhesives, sealing agents, or primers, the aqueous resin composition exhibiting high peel strength even when baked at 80° C. on polyolefin substrates, and maintaining adhesion although an acrylic component is contained. Provided is an aqueous resin composition comprising an acid-modified polyolefin resin (A) and a (meth)acrylic acid ester copolymer (B), wherein the acid-modified polyolefin resin (A) contains an unsaturated carboxylic acid or an anhydride thereof in an amount of 0.5 to 10 mass %, and wherein the (meth)acrylic acid ester copolymer (B) contains as copolymerization components a (meth)acrylic acid ester (B1), whose ester moiety is a hydrocarbon group with 12 or more carbon atoms, and a (meth)acrylic acid ester (B2), whose ester moiety is a hydrocarbon group with 11 or less carbon atoms.

A method of preparing hydrophobicizing leather treatment compositions includes the steps of a) free-radically initiated copolymerization of i) at least one ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid or its derivatives, and ii) at least one (meth)acrylate of a primary saturated C.sub.8 to C.sub.22 alcohol, b) mixing the reaction mixture obtained after step a) with water, c) salting at least some of the carboxyl groups of the reaction mixture obtained after step b) with a base, and d) shearing the reaction mixture obtained after step c) to an average particle size of 0.05-10 μm,
wherein step a) is carried out in oil as reaction medium and wherein the atmosphere in step a) contains less than 0.1% by volume of an oxidizing gas.