The invention relates to storage-stable aqueous dispersions of hydrophilically modified polycarbodiimide resins, a method for producing same, and the use of a salt component to reduce carbodiimide hydrolysis in aqueous polycarbodiimide dispersions.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an electrode capable of maintaining superior capacity retention without destruction of an electrode structure, even in the case of using an active material including silicon. The present invention relates to a binder for a lithium cell, the binder comprising polyacrylic acid cross-linked by a cross-linking agent selected from the compounds described in the general formulae [1] to [13] and the polymer described in the general formula [14] (provided that the one which includes a functional group-containing vinylidene fluoride-based polymer is excluded); a composition for producing an electrode of a lithium cell, the composition comprising 1) an active material containing silicon, 2) a conductive assistant and 3) a cross-linked-type polyacrylic acid (provided that the one containing a functional group-containing vinylidene fluoride-based polymer is excluded); and an electrode for a lithium cell, the electrode comprising 1) an active material containing silicon, 2) a conductive assistant, 3) a cross-linked-type polyacrylic acid, and 4) a current collector (provided that the one containing a functional group-containing vinylidene fluoride-based polymer is excluded).

Fluorine free compositions for treating fibrous substrates to make the fibrous substrates water repellent, method for treating the fibrous substrates with said compositions and water repellent fibrous substrates treated with said fluorine free compositions.

A fluorine-free composition includes at least one polycarbodiimide compound derived from a carbodiimidization reaction of a carbodiimidization reaction mixture comprising at least one oligomer, wherein the oligomer comprises at least one isocyanate end group and at least two repeating units, wherein each of the at least two repeating units comprises at least one hydrocarbon group having at least 16 carbon atoms. The composition may also include at least one paraffin wax. Such compositions are useful for treating fibrous substrates to enhance their water-repellency.

A method for manufacturing a blade for electrophotographic devices and a blade for electrophotographic devices are provided. The method includes: an impregnation step of impregnating, from the surface of at least a part of a blade-shaped substrate containing urethane rubber, with a blocked isocyanate in which an isocyanate group is blocked with a blocking agent, wherein the part includes a portion that comes into contact with a mating member; and a curing step of dissociating the blocking agent from the blocked isocyanate impregnated into the substrate in the impregnation step, and then curing the released isocyanate in the substrate to form a cured portion in at least the part of the substrate including the portion that comes into contact with the mating member. In the method, the isocyanate released from the blocked isocyanate includes an aromatic isocyanate.

Polycarbodiimide-containing compositions, methods of using such compositions (e.g., to treat fibrous substrates), and articles treated with such compositions, wherein the compositions include a polycarbodiimide and a silicon-containing compound selected from cyclic siloxanes, silsesquioxane (SSQ) polymers, or mixtures thereof.

A polycarbodiimide compound represented by the following general formula (1):

##STR00001##

wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.3 each represent a residue of an organic compound having one isocyanate-reactive functional group but excluding the isocyanate-reactive functional group, and R.sup.1 and R.sup.3 may be the same as or different from each other; R.sup.2 comprises a group represented by the following formula (i), which is a divalent residue of 2,4-diphenylmethane diisocyanate having isocyanate groups removed therefrom, and a group represented by the following formula (ii), which is a divalent residue of 4,4-diphenylmethane diisocyanate having isocyanate groups removed therefrom; the proportion of the groups represented by the formula (i) relative to all the R.sup.2 groups in the polycarbodiimide compound is 30 to 70 mol %, and the proportion of the groups represented by the formula (ii) relative to all the R.sup.2 groups in the polycarbodiimide compound is 30 to 70 mol %; X.sup.1 and X.sup.2 each represent a group formed by the reaction of the organic compound and isocyanate, and X.sup.1 and X.sup.2 may be the same as or different from each other; and n represents an integer of 2 to 50.

##STR00002##

The present invention suggests a curable organic polymer comprising at least one acylurea unit represented by structural formula (I):

##STR00001##

Moreover, the present invention suggests a process for the preparation of said polymer and the use of said curable organic polymer for the preparation of a cured composition and for the preparation of hydroxyurethanes.

The present invention relates to compositions containing halogen-free polymeric carbodiimide, halogen-free epoxide and polyester-based polymers, in particular polybutylene terephthalate-based compositions, to articles of manufacture and to their production and use.

A method for producing a composition comprising polycarbodiimide, comprising the step of the reaction of a reaction mixture which contains an aromatic polyisocyanate and a carbodiimidising catalyst, wherein, before the reaction, the aromatic polyisocyanate is treated at a temperature of 80 C. to 150 C. and a pressure of 1 mbar to 500 mbar by passing through an inert gas and/or during the reaction, the reaction mixture is treated at a temperature of 80 C. to 150 C. and a pressure of 1 mbar to 500 mbar by passing through an inert gas and wherein the content of hydrolysable chlorine in the reaction mixture is 10 ppm.