Mesoporous poly (aryl ether ketone) articles are formed from blends of poly (aryl ether ketones) with pore forming additives by melt processing, and can be in the form of a monofilament, disc, film, microcapillary or other complex shapes. The method of formation provides for preparation of poly (aryl ether ketone) articles with high degree of surface area and uniform nanometer pore size. The preferred poly (aryl ether ketone)s are poly (ether ketone) and poly (ether ether ketone). The mesoporous articles formed by the method of the present invention are useful for a broad range of applications, including molecular separations and organic solvent filtration.

The invention relates to a method for producing an aerogel material with a porosity of at least 0.55 and an average pore size of 10 nm to 500 nm, having the following steps: a) preparing and optionally activating a sol; b) filling the sol into a casting mold (10); c) gelling the sol, whereby a gel is produced, and subsequently aging the gel; at least one of the following steps d) and e), d) substituting the pore liquid with a solvent; e) chemically modifying the aged and optionally solvent-substituted gel (6) using a reaction agent; followed by f) drying the gel, whereby the aerogel material is formed. The casting mold used in step b) is provided with a plurality of channel-forming elements (2) which are designed such that the sol filled into the casting mold lies overall at a maximum distance X from a channel-forming element over a specified minimum length L defined in the channel direction of the elements, with the proviso that X<15 mm and L/X>3.

The present invention includes methods of making a nanocellulosic composition comprising one or more nanocellulosic components, wherein the one or more nanocellulosic components comprise a micron-scale cellulose or cellulose nanofibrils (CNF), the method comprising the steps of: creating a nanocellulosic slurry by combining the one or more of nanocellulosic components with a liquid component; and exposing the nanocellulosic slurry to a drying condition, wherein the drying condition comprises microwave radiation, thereby creating a nanocellulosic composition. The present invention also includes compositions comprising cellulose (nanocellulosic compositions), wherein the nanocellulosic compositions have an internal void space of about 5% to about 95% by volume.

A low-density gel product of the present disclosure has a skeleton containing a polysiloxane chain and an organic polymer chain. In the skeleton, the polysiloxane chain and the organic polymer chain are bonded to each other by covalent bonds at a plurality of positions on both of the chains with silicon atoms of the polysiloxane chain as bonding points. The organic polymer chain may be an aliphatic hydrocarbon chain. The polysiloxane chain may be a polyorganosiloxane chain. The low-density gel product of the present disclosure is a novel low-density gel product with improved mechanical properties including bending flexibility.

Examples include a device including a nanovoided polymer element having a first surface and a second surface, a first plurality of electrodes disposed on the first surface, a second plurality of electrodes disposed on the second surface, and a control circuit configured to apply an electrical potential between one or more of the first plurality of electrodes and one or more of the second plurality of electrodes to induce a physical deformation of the nanovoided polymer element.

Mesoporous poly (aryl ether ketone) articles are formed from blends of poly (aryl ether ketones) with pore forming additives by melt processing, and can be in the form of a monofilament, disc, film, microcapillary or other complex shapes. The method of formation provides for preparation of poly (aryl ether ketone) articles with high degree of surface area and uniform nanometer pore size. The preferred poly (aryl ether ketone)s are poly (ether ketone) and poly (ether ether ketone). The mesoporous articles formed by the method of the present invention are useful for a broad range of applications, including molecular separations and organic solvent filtration.

The disclosure relates to thermally expandable microspheres comprising a polymeric shell surrounding a blowing agent-containing hollow core, the polymer shell comprising a carboxylate-functionalised cellulose having a glass transition temperature (Tg) of at least about 125° C. The disclosure also relates to a method for preparing such thermally expandable microspheres, comprising mixing an aqueous phase that optionally comprises an emulsifier with an organic phase that comprises an organic solvent, a blowing agent and a carboxylate-functionalised cellulose having a Tg of at about least 125° C., to form a microsphere dispersion.

A product, especially a master-batch for producing thermally expandable compositions, is obtainable or obtained by reacting, preferably by extruding, a mixture including: (a) at least one polymer P, cross-linkable by peroxide, and (b) at least one coagent, especially an acrylate A, and (c) at least one peroxide PE, wherein the mixture is reacted such that the product has an average melt flow index (MFI) of between 0.1 and 8 g/10 min.

A HIPE foam may including a vinyl-based crosslinked polymer as a base material resin. The vinyl-based crosslinked polymer may be formed by crosslinking a polymer of a styrene-based monomer and/or an acryl-based monomer. An apparent density ρ of the HIPE foam may be 35 kg/m.sup.3 or more and 500 kg/m.sup.3 or less. A molecular weight between crosslinking points of the vinyl-based crosslinked polymer forming the HIPE foam may be 2×10.sup.3 or more and 2×10.sup.5 or less. The HIPE foam may be used as, for example, a machinable material or an impact absorbing material.

Mesoporous poly (aryl ether ketone) articles are formed from blends of poly (aryl ether ketones) with pore forming additives by melt processing, and can be in the form of a monofilament, disc, film, microcapillary or other complex shapes. The method of formation provides for preparation of poly (aryl ether ketone) articles with high degree of surface area and uniform nanometer pore size. The preferred poly (aryl ether ketone)s are poly (ether ketone) and poly (ether ether ketone). The mesoporous articles formed by the method of the present invention are useful for a broad range of applications, including molecular separations and organic solvent filtration.