The present inventions in various aspects provide elastic biodegradable polymers. In various embodiments, the polymers are formed by the reaction of a multifunctional alcohol or ether and a difunctional or higher order acid to form a pre-polymer, which is cross-linked to form the elastic biodegradable polymer. In preferred embodiments, the cross-linking is performed by functionalization of one or more OR groups on the pre-polymer backbone with vinyl, followed by photopolymerization to form the elastic biodegradable polymer composition or material. Preferably, acrylate is used to add one or more vinyls to the backbone of the pre-polymer to form an acrylated pre-polymer. In various embodiments, acrylated pre-polymers are co-polymerized with one or more acrylated co-polymers.

An ink composition to be used in an ink jet recording apparatus includes a self-dispersing pigment, a soap-free resin, and water. When 15 g of the ink composition is weighed into a 50-mL sample bottle and the sample bottle is shaken 100 times for one minute, at 60 seconds after shaking, a foam height from a liquid level is 1 cm or less.

Optically clear curable adhesive films that are heat conformable prior to setting include a reactive composition. The curable films are flexible and free-standing, and have a complex viscosity of greater than 100,000 poise (10,000 Pascal seconds) at 25° C. and less than 100 poise (10 Pascal seconds) at 85° C., prior to setting. The set film has an adhesive shear strength of greater than 100 Newtons per square centimeter (N/cm.sup.2) to a glass substrate when measured according to the Shear Adhesion Test Method. The reactive composition includes an ethylenically unsaturated polyester-containing oligomeric composition that is the reaction product of a saturated, amorphous co-polyester polyol and a compound with a terminal polyol-reactive group and a terminal ethylenically unsaturated group, a (meth)acrylate functional material, and at least one initiator.

A molded article of a fiber-reinforced resin contains at least a bundled aggregate [A] of discontinuous reinforcing fibers and a matrix resin [M], wherein the average layer thickness h in the molded article of the fiber-reinforced resin is 100 μm or less and the CV value of the average layer thickness h is 40% or less; and a compression molding method therefor. It is possible to reliably and greatly reduce the occurrence of stress concentration in the molded article and to thereby achieve higher mechanical properties and further reduce variation in the mechanical properties.

The present inventions in various aspects provide elastic biodegradable polymers. In various embodiments, the polymers are formed by the reaction of a multifunctional alcohol or ether and a difunctional or higher order acid to form a pre-polymer, which is cross-linked to form the elastic biodegradable polymer. In preferred embodiments, the cross-linking is performed by functionalization of one or more OR groups on the pre-polymer backbone with vinyl, followed by photopolymerization to form the elastic biodegradable polymer composition or material. Preferably, acrylate is used to add one or more vinyls to the backbone of the pre-polymer to form an acrylated pre-polymer. In various embodiments, acrylated pre-polymers are co-polymerized with one or more acrylated co-polymers.

A fiber-reinforced molding material includes: as essential raw materials, a vinyl ester (A) which is a reaction product of an epoxy resin (a1) having an epoxy equivalent in the range of 180 to 500 and a (meth)acrylic acid (a2); an unsaturated monomer (B) having a flash point of 100 C. or higher; a thermoplastic resin (C); a polyisocyanate (D); a polymerization initiator (E); and carbon fibers (F) having a fiber length of 2.5 to 50 mm. The mass ratio ((A)/(B)) of the vinyl ester (A) to the unsaturated monomer (B) is in the range of 40/60 to 85/15. The molar ratio (NCO/OH) of the isocyanate group (NCO) of the polyisocyanate (D) to the hydroxy group (OH) of the vinyl ester (A) is in the range of 0.25 to 0.85.

An ink composition to be used in an ink jet recording apparatus includes a self-dispersing pigment, a soap-free resin, and water. When 15 g of the ink composition is weighed into a 50-mL sample bottle and the sample bottle is shaken 100 times for one minute, at 60 seconds after shaking, a foam height from a liquid level is 1 cm or less.

There is provided a method of manufacturing an openly and highly porous thermoset foam, the method comprising the steps of mixing a thermosetting resin and crystals to form a mixture; applying pressure to the mixture to expel excess thermosetting resin, thereby producing a network of crystals touching each other with the thermosetting resin filling the interstices between the crystals of said network; curing the thermosetting resin in the mixture under pressure to produce a cured material; and contacting the cured material with a solvent for the crystals, thereby leaching the crystals out of the cured material, thereby obtaining said openly and highly porous thermoset foam. There is also provided a thermoset foam made of a thermoset and having a porosity of at least about 70%, wherein more than about 75% of the pores in the foam are connected to a neighboring pore.

A pelletized road marking composition includes a binder mixture, a filler mixture and bentonite clay. The binder mixture includes at least one alkyd ester, at least one wax, at least one ethylene copolymer, and at least one plasticizer. The filler mixture includes at least one coloring additive, reflective elements, and at least one inert inorganic filler. The components of the road marking composition are mixed and melted and processed into pellets. The bentonite clay added to the composition prevents the pellets from clumping when stored at elevated temperatures.

A fiber-reinforced molding material of the present invention includes a matrix resin and a reinforcing fiber, wherein the matrix resin includes a reactant of the following component (A) and the following component (B), and the following component (C), and a spiral flow length measured in accordance with EIMS T901 is 300 mm or longer, component (A): a component having one or more ethylenically unsaturated groups in one molecule and including at least one selected from the group consisting of the following component (A-1) and the following component (A-2); component (A-1): an unsaturated polyester resin having one or more ethylenically unsaturated groups and one or more hydroxyl groups in one molecule; component (A-2): an epoxy (meth)acrylate resin having one or more ethylenically unsaturated groups and one or more hydroxyl groups in one molecule; component (B): an isocyanate compound; component (C): a radical polymerization inhibitor having no hydroxyl group in a molecule.