The present invention provides a foamed urethane sheet which is formed from an aqueous urethane resin composition containing a urethane resin (A), an aqueous medium (B), and a surfactant (C) having 10 or more carbon atoms, and has a density of 200 to 1,000 kg/m.sup.3. Further, the present invention provides a synthetic leather having at least a substrate (i) and a polyurethane layer (ii), wherein the polyurethane layer (ii) is formed from the foamed urethane sheet according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The polyurethane layer (ii) may be embossed. The surfactant (C) is preferably a stearic acid salt, and the urethane resin (A) which has an anionic group, and has a flow starting temperature of 80° C. or higher is preferably used.

An object of the present invention is to provide a polymer compound in which, by blending with a liquid crystal composition containing a liquid crystalline compound, alignment of the liquid crystalline compound in a phase difference layer to be obtained increases; and a liquid crystal composition, a phase difference layer, an optical film, a polarizing plate, and an image display device using the same. The polymer compound of the present invention is a polymer compound including a repeating unit represented by Formula (I), a repeating unit represented by Formula (II), a repeating unit represented by Formula (III), and a repeating unit represented by Formula (IV).

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Foam compositions are provided. The compositions are prepared from multi-functional acetoacetate esters and multi-functional amines or acrylates. The foam compositions can include one or more additives. The foam compositions can be used for home and commercial insulation, air sealing, sound proofing, structural improvement, and exterior roofing, among other applications. The foam compositions provide advantages of being isocyanate free and offer reduced exposure to isocyanate.

Provided is a method for producing a thermosetting aqueous binder comprising a polycarboxylic acid and an amine-based compound serving as a crosslinking agent for the polycarboxylic acid and having two or more per molecule of at least one from between an amino group and an imino group, the method comprising: a blocking step for blocking at least a part of the carboxy groups of the polycarboxylic acid with a volatile basic compound to obtain a blocked polycarboxylic acid; and a mixing step for mixing the blocked polycarboxylic acid and the amine-based compound. According to such an invention, it is possible to reduce a precipitate and a viscous substance generated during production to a level sufficient for practical use.

To provide a method whereby it is possible to efficiently produce an ion exchange membrane for alkali chloride electrolysis, which has high current efficiency and high alkali resistance at the time of electrolyzing an alkali chloride. This is a method for producing an ion exchange membrane 1 for alkali chloride electrolysis, having a layer (C) 12 containing a fluorinated polymer (A) having carboxylic acid type functional groups, by immersing an ion exchange membrane precursor film having a precursor layer (C) containing a fluorinated polymer (A) having groups convertible to carboxylic acid type functional groups, in an aqueous alkaline solution comprising an alkali metal hydroxide, a water-soluble organic solvent and water, and subjecting the groups convertible to carboxylic acid type functional groups to hydrolysis treatment to convert them to carboxylic acid type functional groups, wherein the concentration of the water-soluble organic solvent is from 1 to 60 mass % in the alkaline aqueous solution (100 mass %); the proportion of structural units having carboxylic acid type functional groups in the fluorinated polymer (A) is from 14.00 to 14.50 mol %; and the resistivity in the layer (C) 12 is from 3.010.sup.3 to 25.010.sup.3 .Math.cm.

Foam compositions are provided. The compositions are prepared from multi-functional acetoacetate esters and multi-functional amines or acrylates. The foam compositions can include one or more additives. The foam compositions can be used for home and commercial insulation, air sealing, sound proofing, structural improvement, and exterior roofing, among other applications. The foam compositions provide advantages of being isocyanate free and offer reduced exposure to isocyanate.

Components for articles of footwear and athletic equipment are provided including a foam. A variety of foams and foam components are provided. The articles include a composition having a foam structure, wherein the composition includes an ionomeric polymer and a plurality of cations, wherein the ionomeric copolymer is crosslinked by the cations. The crosslinks are ionic, so in some aspects the composition is free or essentially free of any covalent crosslinks between the ionomers. In particular, midsoles including the foams are provided for use in an article of footwear. Methods of making the compositions and foams are provided, as well as methods of making an article of footwear including one of the foam components. In some aspects, the foams and foam components can be made by injection molding or injection molding followed by compression molding.

A temperature-responsive hydrogel which contains a carboxyl group-bearing polymer and a divalent-metal salt of an organic acid is provided. The carboxyl group-bearing polymer may be a homopolymer of a carboxyl group-bearing monomer or a copolymer of a plurality of monomers including the monomer. A method for producing the temperature-responsive hydrogel involves immersing a carboxyl group-bearing polymer in an aqueous solution of a divalent-metal salt of an organic acid. The concentration of the divalent-metal salt of an organic acid in the aqueous solution may be 50 mM to the saturation concentration. It is possible to provide a temperature-responsive gel having an LCST with no volume phase transition and a method for producing the temperature-responsive gel.

[Problem] To provide a gel which can be produced in a short time, has controlled properties such as modulus and expansion pressure, and has a low polymer concentration. [Solution] A process for producing a polymer gel in which gel-precursor clusters have been crosslinked with one another to form a three-dimensional network structure, characterized by comprising a) a step in which monomer or polymer units that are present in a concentration less than a critical gelation concentration are crosslinked to form the gel-precursor clusters, the gel-precursor clusters having a storage modulus G and a loss modulus G which satisfy the relationship G<G, and b) a step in which the gel-precursor clusters are crosslinked with one another by a crosslinking agent to obtain a gel having a three-dimensional network structure.

Provided is a production method for a water-absorbing resin in which an absorption capacity without pressure of the resulting water-absorbing resin is high and a water-absorbing resin can be efficiently obtained.

The production method for a water-absorbing resin including a polymerization step of polymerizing a monomer composition containing an internal crosslinking agent and a monomer to obtain a crosslinked hydrogel polymer, and a drying step of drying the crosslinked hydrogel polymer to obtain a dry polymer, in which the crosslinked hydrogel polymer to be subjected to the drying step contains 50 ppm or more of hydrogen peroxide with respect to the solid content mass of the crosslinked hydrogel polymer, and the crosslinked hydrogel polymer is heated during the drying step so that a maximum reaching temperature of the crosslinked hydrogel polymer exceeds 160? C., and/or the dry polymer is heated after the drying step so that a maximum reaching temperature of the dry polymer exceeds 160? C.