A material comprising an encapsulated component within a shell, a rupture initiator associated with the encapsulated component, and a polymeric matrix material, wherein the encapsulation is adapted to fail upon activation of the rupture initiator allowing the encapsulated component to be liberated to initiate a reaction or increase the reactivity of the material.

A method of manufacturing a thermally insulating product comprises: (a) forming a mixture comprising solvent and gel network former and optionally foaming agent; (b) dispersing a thermally insulating filler in the mixture; and (c) drying the mixture to form the thermally insulating product.

Described are dissolvable, porous solid structures formed using certain vinyl acetate-vinyl alcohol copolymers. The copolymer and the porosity of the structure allow for liquid flow during use such that the structure readily dissolves to provide a desired consumer experience. Also described are processes for making open cell foam and fibrous dissolvable solid structures.

The present invention relates to a method for producing polyurethane foams by reacting an isocyanate component with an isocyanate-reactive component comprising at least one polyethercarbonate polyol, the reaction taking place in the presence of a component K selected from one or more compounds from the group consisting of K1 esters of mono- or polybasic carboxylic acids whose (first) dissociation has a pKa of 0.5 to 4.0, K2 mono-, di- and polysulfonates of mono- and polyfunctional alcohols, and K3 one or more compounds from the group consisting of K 3.1 esters of phosphoric acid, phosphonic acid, phosphorous acid, phosphinic acid, phosphonous acid and phosphinous acid, these esters each containing no P—OH group, K3.2 oligomeric alkyl phosphates of the general formula (II), where a is an integer from 1 to 10, b is an integer from 1 to 10, R1, R2, R3 and R4 are alkyl groups having at least one carbon, and R1, R2, R3 and R4 are alike or, independently of one another, different, and R5 is a linear alkylene group having at least two carbons or is a branched alkylene group having at least three carbons, and K3.3 comprises oligomeric alkyl phosphates of the general formula (III), where a is an integer from 1 to 10, b is an integer from 1 to 10, R1, R4 and R5 are linear alkylene groups having at least two carbons or are branched alkylene groups having at least three carbons, and R1, R4 and R5 are alike or, independently of one another, different, and R2 and R3 are alkyl groups having at least one carbon, and R2 and R3 are alike or, independently of one another, different. The invention also relates to polyurethane foams produced by the method of the invention and to the use thereof.

A phenolic resin foam has a density of 30 kg/m.sup.3 to 80 kg/m.sup.3, a closed cell ratio of 85% or more, and reaches a total amount of heat release of 8 MJ/m.sup.2 in a time of 20 minutes or more in a heat release test performed using a cone calorimeter.

The present disclosure relates to sulfonic acid esters for use as additives in a polyurethane formulation. The polyurethane formulation further includes a compound containing an isocyanate functional group, an active hydrogen-containing compound and a reactive amine catalyst.

According to an example aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for foam assisted drying of nano- and microfibrillated cellulose, which is easily up-scalable and cost-efficient.

The present invention is directed to a foamable polyolefin composition which is crosslinkable by silane groups, to a crosslinked foam obtained from such a foamable polyolefin composition, and to a process for producing a crosslinked foam based on the foamable polyolefin composition. The foamable polyolefin composition comprises a polyethylene bearing hydrolysable silane groups and comonomer units comprising a polar group selected from the group consisting of acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, acrylates, methacrylates, vinyl esters, and mixtures thereof, a silanol condensation catalyst, a physical blowing agent, and a cell nucleating agent.

Modification of the rheology of a liquid medium, aqueous or nonaqueous, with polymers in the form of specific particles obtained by grinding (micronizing) a porous macrogel, itself prepared by a process comprising a radical polymerization step which comprises reacting in the presence of pore formers monomers containing monomers bearing at least two ethylenic unsaturations, typically in combination with monomers bearing a single ethylenic unsaturation; a polymerization initiator; and optionally a polymerization control agent. These polymer particles keep other particles in suspension within the liquid medium, and also the stabilized suspensions are obtained.

In one embodiment, a composition comprising the reaction product of an olefin block copolymer, a silicone polymer, a blowing agent, and a crosslinking agent. Also, a unisole for an article of footwear comprising the foamed composition and having ground-engaging protrusions. The composition provides an optimized balance between coefficient of traction and durability.