Provided are acoustic articles having a porous layer (102,104,106) placed in contact with a heterogeneous filler comprising porous carbon and having an average surface area of from 0.1 m.sup.2/g to 10,000 m.sup.2/g. The acoustic articles can have a flow resistance of from 10 MKS Rayls to 5000 MKS Rayls. Optionally, the porous layer includes a non-woven fibrous layer or a perforated film having a plurality of apertures with an average narrowest diameter of from 30 micrometers to 5000 micrometers. The heterogeneous filler can enhance low frequency performance without significantly compromising high frequency performance, thickness or weight.

An electrically-actuated artificial muscle fiber with bidirectional linear strain and a preparation method thereof are provided. The artificial muscle fiber includes a fiber matrix, electrode layers and insulating layers. The artificial muscle fiber takes the fiber matrix as a skeleton, upper and lower layers of the fiber matrix are covered with one electrode layer respectively, and one insulating layer is covered on a surface of each of electrode layers. A helical fiber body is formed by winding. Finally, the artificial muscle fiber is formed through packaging, where metal wires are taken as leads and respectively connected to upper and lower layers of electrodes.

The present disclosure relates generally to flame retarding building materials and methods for making them. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to flame retarding building materials that have both flame retardant character and desirable water vapor permeability values. In one embodiment, the disclosure provides a flame retardant vapor retarding membranes comprising: a building material substrate sheet having a melt viscosity of about 1 Pa.Math.s to about 100,000 Pa.Math.s at about 300 C. at 1 rad/s; and a polymeric coating layer disposed on the building material substrate layer, wherein the coating layer has a melt viscosity of about 1 Pa.Math.s to about 100,000 Pa.Math.s at about 300 C. at 1 rad/s.

Method of treating a textile article by impregnation with a water dispersion of graphene nano-platelets in an impregnation bath comprising also a polymeric binder and an anti-migration and wetting agent. Graphene is fixed in the textile article to improve its thermal and electrical conductivity, as well as its filtering power and germ-blocking properties.

Disclosed are concrete curing blankets having two or more channels. The channels extend longitudinally and are formed by fluid-tight seals, where all of the layers of the blanket are bonded together. The concrete curing blankets are placed over poured and curing concrete to maintain high water content in the concrete during curing and to accelerate the concrete curing and hardening processes.

Textile article comprising a textile substrate to which graphene is applied in an amount from 0.5 to 20 g of graphene per square meter of textile substrate, wherein said graphene is dispersed in a polymeric binder and forms a thermal circuit heatable by exposure to electromagnetic radiation. There is also described a filter comprising said textile article, for example a face mask for personal health protection.

Described are fabrics or flexible composite materials for an inflatable safety product. The fabrics or flexible composite materials may include a substrate and a metallic layer. The substrate may define a surface. The metallic layer may be completely covering or discontinuous, and the metallic layer may cover at least one surface of the substrate.

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a composite sheet comprising high performance polyethylene fibres and a polymeric resin comprising the steps of assembling HPPE fibres to a sheet, applying an aqueous suspension of a polymeric resin to the HPPE fibres, partially drying the aqueous suspension, optionally applying a temperature and/or a pressure treatment to the composite sheet wherein the polymeric resin is a homopolymer or copolymer of ethylene and/or propylene. The invention further relates to composite sheets obtainable by said method and articles comprising the composite sheet such as helmets, radomes or a tarpaulins.

The present invention addresses the problem of providing a synthetic fiber first processing agent which improves storage stability. This synthetic fiber first processing agent contains a phosphate compound (A), a solvent (S) and an optional non-ionic surfactant (C), said agent being characterized in that the content ratio of the phosphate compound (A) to the non-ionic surfactant (C) is within a prescribed range, and by being used in conjunction with a synthetic fiber second processing agent which contains a non-ionic surfactant (E). The phosphate compound (A) contains a prescribed organic phosphate ester compound, and the proton NMR integration ratio attributable to an inorganic phosphate compound during proton NMR measurement when performing an alkali over-neutralization preprocessing is set to a prescribed range. The solvent (S) has a boiling point no higher than 105 C. at atmospheric pressure. The non-ionic surfactant (C) has a (poly)oxyalkylene structure in the molecule thereof.

A method is for preparing acrylic acid from -propiolactone and for using -propiolactone. The process is based on a specific reactivity of -propiolactone whereby acrylic acid is formed under operating conditions that are mild, especially in terms of temperature.