Foam compositions are provided including a polylactic acid polymer; second (e.g., polyvinyl acetate) polymer having a glass transition temperature (T.sub.g) of at least 25 C.; and plasticizer. Also described are articles comprising the foam compositions, such as a sheet or hearing protection article. Methods of making and using the foam compositions are further described herein.

A method for producing a polyamide-based resin expanded bead, the method comprising expanding a polyamide-based resin bead using a physical blowing agent, wherein the polyamide-based resin bead comprises a coloring pigment and a higher fatty acid metal salt having 12 to 24 carbon atoms; a metal in the higher fatty acid metal salt is one or more metals selected from the group consisting of magnesium, aluminum, and zinc; and a content of the higher fatty acid metal salt in the polyamide-based resin bead is 500 to 5000 mass ppm.

A method for dielectrically heating foamable composition to foam and set the composition is described. In particular, radio frequency (RF) heating is used to heat the foamable composition to provide insulation in the manufacture of an article.

The use of a multicomponent system comprising a) a polyorganosiloxane b) a polyhydrogenorganosiloxane c) a photoactivatable catalyst d) a blowing agent where the polyhydrogenorganosiloxane b) is assigned to a first component I), and the photoactivatable catalyst c) is assigned to a second component II), which are spatially separate from one another, for producing a seal attached by foaming to a component in situ, where a reaction mixture resulting through mixing of the components of the multicomponent system is irradiated with light, the blowing agent d) is a compound having at least one hydroxyl group or is a mixture of compounds having hydroxyl groups, and preferably is water, an alcohol or mixtures thereof.

The present disclosure relates to the processing of a flexible polyvinyl chloride foam having predetermined characteristics formed from a polyvinyl chloride emulsion including polyvinyl chloride resin and a plasticizer by controlling one or more of the following: a concentration of stabilizer in the final foam, a heating rate during processing, a maximum temperature during fusion, and/or a total residence time during heating. Predetermined characteristics of interest for a flexible PVC foam may include, for example, low yellowness, uniform density, high compression modulus and/or a uniform cell morphology.

Disclosed are a dynamic non-wicking PU foam and preparation and application thereof The PU foam is prepared from polyether polyol, toluene-2,4-diisocyanate, non-wicking additive and auxiliary agent. The dynamic non-wicking additive is composed of carboxylic acids, amines and alkyl alcohols in any proportion. The auxiliary agent is composed of silicone surfactant, amine promoter, tin catalyst, pigment and water. The dynamic non-wicking PU foam has a high stability and an extremely non-wicking effect. The shoes made of the dynamic non-wicking PU foam also have extremely good dynamic non-wicking and waterproof effects, thus ensuring both comfort and stability of quality.

This disclosure describes processes for producing polymer foams, and compositions of matter relating to these processes. A process includes the steps of dispersing an organic nucleating agent in a dispersing medium to obtain an additive dispersion, contacting the additive dispersion with a mineral nucleating agent to obtain a hybrid nucleating agent containing the organic nucleating agent localized on at least a portion of a surface of the mineral nucleating agent, and contacting the hybrid nucleating agent with a polymer in the presence of a foaming agent to obtain a polymer foam. A foamed polymer of the present disclosure includes a cellular matrix containing a polymer material, and a mineral matrix of particles containing a hybrid nucleating agent dispersed in the cellular matrix, in which the hybrid nucleating agent contains an organic nucleating agent localized on at least a portion of a surface of an inorganic material.

Foamed compositions that include: one or more foamable polymers; one or more ionomeric additives; and wherein the foam composition exhibits shrinkage as determined at 70 C.*1 h according to the PFI method between 0.1 and 3.5%. Methods may include preparing a polymer composition by combining one or more foamable polymers and one or more ionomeric additives in a mixer to produce the polymer composition; and foaming the polymer composition to generate a polymer foam exhibiting shrinkage as determined at 70 C.*1 h according to the PFI method of between 0.1 and 3.5%.

A polyvinyl chloride polymer (PVC) composite material is described herein. The PVC composite material includes 40-60 parts by weight of PVC, 40-60 parts by weight of calcium carbonate, 0.2-0.6 parts by weight of composite foaming agent, 3-5 parts by weight of foam regulator, 2-4 parts by weight of toughener, 0.8-1.2 parts by weight of lubricant, and 2-3 parts by weight of stabilizer. Meanwhile, the present invention provides a foam board made of the PVC composite material and flooring. The resulting PVC products have a high-strength structure and a good foaming property, bring the comfort to feet as the resilient flooring does, have a satisfied sound reduction and can be easily installed as the hard flooring could.

Embodiments relate to a porous polyurethane polishing pad for use in a chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) process of semiconductors and a process for producing the same. In the porous polyurethane polishing pad, it is possible to control the size and distribution of pores, whereby the polishing performance (i.e., polishing rate) of the polishing pad can be adjusted, by way of employing thermally expanded microcapsules as a solid phase foaming agent and an inert gas as a gas phase foaming agent.