An aqueous dispersion including a polymer having a 2-oxazoline group; and a surfactant, the surfactant containing a sulfuric acid ester compound represented by the following Chemical Formula (S):

R.sup.1—O—(R.sup.2O)nSO.sub.3X  (S)

wherein R.sup.1 represents an aliphatic hydrocarbon group having 8 to 20 carbon atoms; R.sup.2 represents an alkylene group having 2 to 4 carbon atoms; n represents 2 to 15; and X represents a monovalent cation.

The present invention relates to a method of producing a supramolecular hydrogel which is formed by the mixing and gelation of at least two dispersions of different types of synthetic hydrogelators, said hydrogelators being formed of synthetic building blocks comprising one or more hydrogen bonding units, wherein each bonding unit comprises a ureido-pyrimidinone subunit and each bonding unit is conjugated with a hydrophilic polymer unit, the method comprising the steps of: a) providing a first dispersion of one type of hydrogelators, b) mixing the first dispersion with a second dispersion of another type of hydrogelators, and c) allowing the dispersions to form the hydrogel, wherein the types of hydrogelators are selected from multifunctional hydrogelators and monofunctional hydrogelators, wherein the steps of the method are conducted under biocompatible conditions, and wherein the hydrophilic polymer unit of the hydrogelators comprised in the first dispersion has a minimal hydrophilicity such that the first dispersion does not form a hydrogel under the biocompatible conditions applied.

The present invention relates to a method of producing a supramolecular hydrogel which is formed by the mixing and gelation of at least two dispersions of different types of synthetic hydrogelators, said hydrogelators being formed of synthetic building blocks comprising one or more hydrogen bonding units, wherein each bonding unit comprises a ureido-pyrimidinone subunit and each bonding unit is conjugated with a hydrophilic polymer unit, the method comprising the steps of: a) providing a first dispersion of one type of hydrogelators, b) mixing the first dispersion with a second dispersion of another type of hydrogelators, and c) allowing the dispersions to form the hydrogel, wherein the types of hydrogelators are selected from multifunctional hydrogelators and monofunctional hydrogelators, wherein the steps of the method are conducted under biocompatible conditions, and wherein the hydrophilic polymer unit of the hydrogelators comprised in the first dispersion has a minimal hydrophilicity such that the first dispersion does not form a hydrogel under the biocompatible conditions applied.

The polycarbodiimide composition is a reaction product of polyisocyanate having a primary isocyanate group with alcohol, wherein the alcohol contains at least one oxyethylene-containing alcohol containing an oxyethylene group, and at least one oxyethylene-noncontaining alcohol containing no oxyethylene group, the at least one oxyethylene-noncontaining alcohol has a solubility parameter of 11.20 (cal/cm.sup.3).sup.1/2 or less.

The invention relates to novel antimicrobial surfactants and their application in antimicrobial coating systems, in particular water borne coatings. Provided is a method for providing an antimicrobial surfactant, comprising the steps of: (a) providing a hyperbranched polyurea having blocked isocyanates at the end of the polymer branches by the polycondensation of AB.sub.2 monomers; (b) introducing tertiary amine groups by reacting said blocked isocyanates of the hyperbranched polyurea with a tertiary amine compound that is functionalized with —OH, —NH.sub.2, —SH, or —COO—; and (c) quaternization of said tertiary amine groups by reacting with an alkylating agent to obtain a quaternized hyperbranched polymer having antimicrobial surfactant properties.

A fabrication method and application of topological elastomers with highly branched structures, low modulus and high elasticity. The topological elastomers comprise dendritic macromolecules. The fabrication method includes direct crosslinking, post-crosslinking, grafting, and copolymerization. The performance of the elastomer can be easily tuned via changing the topology of the polymer network. The breakthrough of this invention lies in that these topological elastomers with highly branched structures are having low modulus and high elasticity, which would expand its application in the field of elastomer. Notably, the variety of topological elastomers, the versatility of curing chemistries, the availability of a wide variety of monomers, and the various polymerization methods are enabling the fabrication of topological elastomers with feasibility and efficiency.

A charge-transfer salt formed from a material comprising a repeat unit of formula (I) and an n-dopant: wherein BG is a backbone group of the repeat unit; R.sup.1 is a ionic substituent comprising at least one cationic or anionic group; n is at least 1; R.sup.2 is a non-ionic substituent; and m is 0 or a positive integer; the material further comprising a counterion balancing the charge of the cationic or anionic group.

##STR00001##

Provided is a polymer having a sharp melting peak and allowing easy adjustment of the melting peak temperature. Specifically provided is a polymer having two or more kinds of constitutional units containing an alkyl group having 14 or more and 30 or less carbon atoms, wherein the proportions of the number of the two or more kinds of constitutional units containing an alkyl group having 14 or more and 30 or less carbon atoms are each 20% or more, with respect to 100% of the total number of all constitutional units containing an alkyl group having 14 or more and 30 or less carbon atoms. An enthalpy of fusion of the polymer observed within a temperature range of 10° C. or higher and lower than 60° C. in differential scanning calorimetry is 30 J/g or more.

Systems and methods which provide an aqueous gel polymer electrolyte having one or more additive therein selected to configure the aqueous gel polymer electrolyte, and batteries formed therewith, for improved performance are described. Aqueous gel polymer electrolytes may, for example, have an additive compound including boron (e.g., a borate ion-containing salt) therein to configure batteries formed using the aqueous gel polymer electrolyte to increase the ionic conductivity of the gel polymer electrolyte. The addition of borax in Zinc-ion battery gel electrolytes of embodiments is configured to enhance the dissociation of zinc ions and anions, and subsequently release more mobile zinc ions. Furthermore, the interaction between borax and divalent transition metal (Zn) in electrolyte according to embodiments may enhance the transportation of mobile zinc ions.

An ion-conducting material, a core-shell structure containing the ion-conducting material, an electrode prepared with the core-shell structure and a metal-ion battery employing the electrode are provided. The core-shell structure includes a core particle and an organic-inorganic composite layer formed on the surface of the core particle for encapsulating the core particle. The core particle includes lithium cobalt oxide, lithium nickel cobalt oxide, lithium nickel cobalt manganese oxide, or lithium nickel cobalt aluminum oxide. Also, the organic-inorganic composite layer includes nitrogen-containing hyperbranched polymer and an ion-conducting material. The ion-conducting material is a lithium-containing linear polymer or a modified Prussian blue, wherein the modified Prussian blue has an ion-conducting group and the lithium-containing linear polymer has an ion-conducting segment.