An article is prepared by injection molding, wherein the article is formed from a hydrophilic thermoplastic polyurethane composition, wherein the thermoplastic polyurethane composition comprises the reaction product of a hydroxyl terminated polyol intermediate component, an aliphatic isocyanate component, and, optionally, a chain extender component. For injection molding, the hydrophilic thermoplastic polyurethane has a crystallization temperature measured by dynamic scanning calorimetry of at least 75° C.

Disclosed are methods of making porous polymeric materials. Also provided herein are porous polymeric materials prepared by the disclosed methods.

Biocompatible polymer hydrogel composite structures, methods of making the composite structures, and methods of using the composite structures as scaffolds for biological tissue growth and regeneration are provided. The methods for making the composite structures start with a porous high resolution three-dimensional hydrogel scaffold in which polymer precursors are infused and then polymerized in situ to form a water-soluble, electrically conducting polymer that is bonded to and/or entrapped within the hydrogel.

Conjugated, electrically conducting polymers (CPs) with the ability to covalently graft onto collagen and collagenic materials are provided. Also provided are methods of functionalizing biological tissues and other biological substrates with the CPs, and methods of using the functionalized biological substrates as cell and tissue growth scaffolds that harness the passive therapeutic benefits of CPs and use the enhanced conductivity provided by the scaffolds to stimulate cell growth and proliferation through the bulk of the biological substrate.

A thermally stable and solvent resistant conductive polymer composite and its manufacturing friendly preparation method are disclosed. The disclosed composite presents great electrical conductivity with thermal stability and solvent resistance. A method of mixing a host conjugated polymer and a crosslinkable silane precursor simultaneously introduces both dopant and rigid cross-linked siloxane network into polymer system. The thin film made by the disclosed thermally stable and solvent resistant conductive polymer composite can be applied to fabricate various devices.

Provided is a film for a capacitor that can improve dielectric strength retention at high temperatures and can also improve metal vapor deposition properties and formability. The film for a capacitor contains a hydrogenated dicyclopentadiene ring-opened polymer that is crystalline and has a heat shrinkage ratio of not less than 0.01% and not more than 1.0% when heated at 200 C. for 10 minutes, a plane orientation factor of 0.01 or more, a density of 1.0310.sup.6 g/m.sup.3 or more, and a thickness of 15.0 m or less.

A method for fabricating an absorbent article on which a conductive paste with good conductivity and adhesion is printed or coated and which is capable of receiving excretions discharged from a user's body is proposed. The method can include: a PEDOT dispersion polymerization step in which a 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) monomer is polymerized using a dispersion polymerization method to produce poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) nanoparticles; a step in which, after polymerization of the PEDOT nanoparticles is completed, residual dispersion stabilizer and oxidizer are removed and the PEDOT nanoparticles are recovered; a step in which the recovered PEDOT nanoparticles are produced into a conductive paste; and a step in which the conductive paste based on the PEDOT nanoparticles is printed or coated.

Embodiments in accordance with the present invention encompass compositions encompassing a latent organo-ruthenium catalyst, an organo-ruthenium compound and a pyridine compound along with one or more monomers which undergo ring open metathesis polymerization (ROMP) when said composition is heated to a temperature from 80 C. to 150 C. or higher to form a substantially transparent film. Alternatively the compositions of this invention also undergo polymerization when subjected to suitable radiation. The monomers employed therein have a range of refractive index from 1.4 to 1.6 and thus these compositions can be tailored to form transparent films of varied refractive indices. The compositions of this invention further comprises inorganic nanoparticles which form transparent films and further increases the refractive indices of the compositions. Accordingly, compositions of this invention are useful in various opto-electronic applications, including as coatings, encapsulants, fillers, leveling agents, among others.

Pure conducting hydrogel precursors and hydrogels formed of pure conducting polymer materials having a combination of high electrical conductivity, high stretchability, low Young's modulus, superior mechanical, electrical and electrochemical stability, and tunable swelling behaviors in wet physiological environments. The hydrogel precursors and hydrogels are fabricated by adding a polar organic solvent to an aqueous solution of the pure conducting polymer material, followed by controlled dry-annealing to form a hydrogel precursor which can be subsequently rehydrated to form a pure conducting polymer hydrogel which comprises at least 99% of the pure conducting polymer.

Disclosed herein are self-healing conductive network compositions. The networks can contain one or more conductive polymers and one or more supramolecular complexes. The supramolecular complex can be introduced into conductive polymer matrix, resulting in a network of the two components. In this network, the nanostructured conductive polymer gel constructs a 3D network to promote the transport of electrons and mechanically reinforce the network while the supramolecular complex contributes to self-healing property and also conductivity. The networks disclosed herein are useful for various applications such as self-healing electronics, artificial skins, soft robotics and biomimetic prostheses.