A bead foam is made of thermoplastic polyurethane, a styrene polymer, and an impact modifier. Moldings can be produced from the bead foam and processes for the production of the bead foams and moldings can be utilized. The moldings can be used for shoe intermediate soles, shoe insoles, shoe combisoles, cushioning elements for shoes, bicycle saddles, bicycle tires, damping elements, cushioning, mattresses, underlays, grips, protective films, in components in the automobile-interior sector or automobile-exterior sector, balls and sports equipment, or as floorcovering.

An expandable poly methyl methacrylate particle including a polymer, which is obtained by a process including polymerizing monomers including 100 parts by weight of an acrylic monomer and from 0.05 to 0.15 parts by weight of a polyfunctional monomer. The acrylic monomer includes 90% to 98% by weight of methyl methacrylate and 2% to 10% by weight of an C.sub.2-8 alkyl acrylate, relative to a total weight of the methyl methacrylate and the C.sub.2-8 alkyl acrylate.

An expandable poly methyl methacrylate particle including a polymer, which is obtained by a process including polymerizing monomers including 100 parts by weight of an acrylic monomer and from 0.05 to 0.15 parts by weight of a polyfunctional monomer. The acrylic monomer includes 90% to 98% by weight of methyl methacrylate and 2% to 10% by weight of an C.sub.2-8 alkyl acrylate, relative to a total weight of the methyl methacrylate and the C.sub.2-8 alkyl acrylate.

Composite resin particles comprising 50 to 800 parts by mass of a polystyrene-based resin with respect to 100 parts by mass of a polyolefin-based resin, wherein: when transmission electron microscope (TEM) images obtained by photographing cross-sections of the composite resin particles using a TEM at a magnification of 1,000 are subjected to a binarization processing and areas in the obtained binarized images which correspond to a cross-sectional area of 437.584 μm.sup.2 of the composite resin particles are subjected to image analysis, the polystyrene-based resin satisfies the following requirements: (1) the number of dispersed particles is 180 or more; (2) the maximum of the areas of dispersed particles is 200 μm.sup.2 or less; and (3) the coefficient of variation in dispersion is 100% or more, and the composite resin particles exhibit an inner morphology that includes a mixture of sea-island structure regions and co-continuous structure regions.

Composite resin particles comprising 50 to 800 parts by mass of a polystyrene-based resin with respect to 100 parts by mass of a polyolefin-based resin, wherein: when transmission electron microscope (TEM) images obtained by photographing cross-sections of the composite resin particles using a TEM at a magnification of 1,000 are subjected to a binarization processing and areas in the obtained binarized images which correspond to a cross-sectional area of 437.584 μm.sup.2 of the composite resin particles are subjected to image analysis, the polystyrene-based resin satisfies the following requirements: (1) the number of dispersed particles is 180 or more; (2) the maximum of the areas of dispersed particles is 200 μm.sup.2 or less; and (3) the coefficient of variation in dispersion is 100% or more, and the composite resin particles exhibit an inner morphology that includes a mixture of sea-island structure regions and co-continuous structure regions.

Foamed pellets contain a thermoplastic polyurethane obtainable or obtained by reacting a polyisocyanate composition (IC), containing at least one aliphatic diisocyanate having a number-average molecular weight of less than 200 g/mol, at least one chain extender (CE1), and a polyol composition (PC). A process can be used for the production of such foamed pellets. The foamed pellets can be used for the production of a molded body.

Foamed pellets contain a thermoplastic polyurethane obtainable or obtained by reacting a polyisocyanate composition (IC), containing at least one aliphatic diisocyanate having a number-average molecular weight of less than 200 g/mol, at least one chain extender (CE1), and a polyol composition (PC). A process can be used for the production of such foamed pellets. The foamed pellets can be used for the production of a molded body.

A process can be used for producing a thermoplastic polyurethane, where the process at least involves converting at least one isocyanate composition and a polyol composition, to obtain a prepolymer having isocyanate groups, and reacting the resulting prepolymer with at least one chain extender. The at least one isocyanate composition contains an isocyanate selected from naphthylene 1,5-diisocyanate (NDI), diphenylmethane 4,4′-diisocyanate (MDI), p-phenyl diisocyanate (PPDI), o-tolidine diisocyanate (TODI), ethylene diphenyl diisocyanate (EDI), or mixtures thereof. The polyol composition contains a polytetrahydrofuran or a derivative thereof. A thermoplastic polyurethane obtained or obtainable by such a process is useful, and a foamed pellet material can be produced containing such a thermoplastic polyurethane. The foamed pellet material of the invention can be used for production of a molded article.

A process can be used for producing a thermoplastic polyurethane, where the process at least involves converting at least one isocyanate composition and a polyol composition, to obtain a prepolymer having isocyanate groups, and reacting the resulting prepolymer with at least one chain extender. The at least one isocyanate composition contains an isocyanate selected from naphthylene 1,5-diisocyanate (NDI), diphenylmethane 4,4′-diisocyanate (MDI), p-phenyl diisocyanate (PPDI), o-tolidine diisocyanate (TODI), ethylene diphenyl diisocyanate (EDI), or mixtures thereof. The polyol composition contains a polytetrahydrofuran or a derivative thereof. A thermoplastic polyurethane obtained or obtainable by such a process is useful, and a foamed pellet material can be produced containing such a thermoplastic polyurethane. The foamed pellet material of the invention can be used for production of a molded article.

An in-mold foamed molded product unit may include an in-mold foamed molded product made of a thermoplastic resin, and an insert material. At least a portion of the insert material may be embedded in the in-mold foamed molded product. The insert material may have a frame-like shape that is substantially rectangular shape and includes a first set of opposite sides and a second set of opposite sides. A portion of the insert material that corresponds to the first set of opposite sides may be a first extending portion, and a portion of the insert material that corresponds to the second set of opposite sides may be a second extending portion. The first extending portion may be substantially entirely embedded in the in-mold foamed molded product, and the second extending portion may include an exposed portion that is exposed to the outside of the in-mold foamed molded product.