The present application relates to a supercritical fluid injection foaming polylactide foam material and a preparation method therefor. The method includes: first obtaining a surface-modified cellulose nanofiber aqueous solution; then melting and blending the cellulose nanofiber aqueous solution and a polylactide twice; passing same through extrusion, cooling under water, and granulation so as to obtain a polylactide/cellulose nanofiber composite material; then plasticizing and melting the polylactide/cellulose nanofiber composite material in a microporous foaming injection molding machine; uniformly mixing same with a supercritical fluid foaming agent in the injection molding machine; injecting same into a mold cavity; and subjecting the resultant to post-treatment so as to obtain a polylactide foam material. The polylactide foam material has a sandwich structure, in which two outer surface layers are solid layers that do not contain any foam, and the sandwiched layer is a foam layer having a cellular structure.

An emulsifier-free process for the preparation of water expandable polymer beads, including: a) providing an emulsifier-free starting composition comprising styrene, b) prepolymerizing the starting composition to obtain a prepolymer composition, c) mixing an aqueous blowing agent with the prepolymer composition at an elevated temperature to obtain an inverse emulsion of water droplets in the prepolymer composition, wherein the aqueous blowing agent comprises water and a water soluble initiator dissolved in the water and the water droplets comprise spheres of a styrene polymer, wherein the water soluble initiator partly decomposes due to the elevated temperature leading to the formation of the inverse emulsion of water droplets in the prepolymer composition, d) suspending the inverse emulsion in an aqueous medium to yield an aqueous suspension of suspended droplets and e) polymerizing monomers in the droplets of the suspension obtained by step d) to obtain the water expandable polymer beads.

A new process is described for preparing silicone foam, ideal for the manufacture of articles in the field of construction, transport, electrical insulation or household appliances, particularly as padding material for seats in the field of transport. This method includes a step (a) of preparing a silicone composition capable of forming a foam by releasing a gas, a step (b) including introducing the silicone composition into a closed mold, and a step (c) including allowing the silicone composition to crosslink and/or harden to obtain the silicone foam, the walls of the mold being permeable to gas at least during all or part of the step of crosslinking and/or hardening of said silicone composition.

Composite foams having cells containing shape-stabilized phase change material (ss-PCM) particles are described. Composite foams may be made by contacting a plurality of ss-PCM particles and one or more pre-polymer reactants, wherein each ss-PCM particle can form a nucleation site for foam cell generation. The composite foams may be used in regulating the temperature of an article wherein the foam undergoes a phase transition as the surrounding temperature of the article approaches the foam's phase transition temperature. The thermostatic material may exchange heat with the article during the phase transition, resulting in regulation of the temperature of the article. The composite foams may be used as a thermostatic packaging material having a cavity for storing goods.

Techniques and systems are used to fabricate a thermal protection systems (TPS) for placement on various parts of a structure, such as a spacecraft. The TPS may comprise syntactic foam as a spray-on foam insulation (SOFI), which may be sprayed onto a surface. Alternatively, the TPS may comprise syntactic foam that is applied as preformed panels that are adhered or mechanically attached to a surface. Performance of a syntactic foam may be improved by including an aluminosilicate nanotube material, such as halloysite nanotubes, in a matrix material. The halloysite nanotubes may be hydrated and treated with a silane couplant before being mixed into the matrix material, which may be a two-part silicone based syntactic insulator material, for example. The halloysite nanotubes, in addition to acting as a filler and reinforcement for the syntactic insulator material, release water during oblation, thus contributing to the effectiveness of a TPS.

A thermally conductive composite includes a polymer; and boron nitride, wherein the boron nitride is in a form of a nanofiber, a nanotube, a nanoplate, or a combination thereof. Alternatively, a thermally conductive composite includes a boron nitride comprising pores; and a polymer disposed in a pore of the boron nitride.

Polymer foam and a method for preparing the same are disclosed. In the present disclosure, the method sequentially comprises the following steps: providing a polymer body; performing a pressure-induced flow (PIF) process on the polymer body at a first predetermined temperature and a first predetermined pressure for a pressure holding time, to obtain a polymer sheet; and performing a foaming process on the polymer sheet by using a foaming agent at a second predetermined temperature and a second predetermined pressure for a saturation time, to obtain polymer foam.

The present disclosure relates to a three-dimensionally (3D) printed tissue engineering scaffold for tissue regeneration and a method for manufacturing the 3D printed tissue engineering scaffold. The 3D printed tissue engineering scaffold may be fabricated at least in part from a composite material having an insoluble component and soluble component. The three-dimensional tissue scaffolds of the disclosure may be fabricated via a rapid prototyping machine. In some instances, the three-dimensional shape of the fabricated tissue engineering scaffold may correspond to a three-dimensional shape of a tissue defect of a patient.

A process for preparing a composition from graphite material by contacting the graphite material with a main solvent comprising at least 10% by weight, with respect to a total weight of the main solvent, of a vinyl aromatic monomer alone or in a mixture up to 50% by weight with additional copolymerizable monomers, thereby forming a starting composition; subjecting to an ultrasound treatment with a frequency spectrum ranging between 18 kHz and 1000 kHz, at a pressure equal to or higher than 2 bar absolute and in a container or sonication chamber wherein no separated phase of fluid at the gaseous phase contacts said composition; and polymerizing at least 1% of the vinyl aromatic monomer present in the main solvent, wherein the composition is at least partially polymerized and contains graphene and graphene nanoplatelets durably dispersed in the solvent, and the composition is without any evident formations of deposits or separated phases for at least 30 days.

A polyamide-based resin expanded bead comprising a polyamide-based resin as a base resin, wherein the expanded bead comprises a carbon nanotube, and the expanded bead has a closed cell ratio of 70% or more.