Abstract: 1,4-Bis(4-phenoxybenzoyl)benzene is made in a homogeneous or heterogeneous system by a reaction of diphenyl ether with 1,4-benzenedicarbonyl chloride at 220.degree.-258.degree. C. in the presence of certain iron, gallium, and indium compounds in catalytic amounts. The mole ratio of diphenyl ether to 1,4-dicarbonyl chloride is 5:1 to 25:1 and the mole ratio of 1,4-benzenedicarbonyl chloride to the catalyst is 1000:1 to 10:1.

Abstract: Extraction of polyamic acid-polyimide gel in bipolymerized polyimide manufacturing process with a solvent containing an extraction-enhancing agent, which is a pyridine, picoline, or quinoline, leads to a polyimide film having increased molecular weight. Polyimides are valuable materials used in fabricating articles which must withstand high temperatures, especially in aerospace applications, and in the manufacture of electronic circuit boards.

Abstract: Process for the manufacture of sodium hydroxide in a sustained manner, tolerant of upsets in sodium hydroxide concentration, by electrolysis of sodium chloride at about 70.degree.-110.degree. C. in an electrolysis cell separated into a cathode compartment and an anode compartment by a cation exchange membrane, wherein the membrane is made of a copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene with a perfluoro monomer Z having a defined structure and a carboxyl end group, the mole ratio of tetrafluoroethylene to the monomer Z in the copolymer being about 7.6 to 8.2, the membrane material on the side exposed to the catholyte being nonporous but having a porous catholyte diffusion layer in direct contact therewith or in close proximity thereof. The sodium chloride feed solution is about equal to the concentration of saturated brine at the operating temperature, and the concentration of sodium chloride solution leaving the anode compartment is about 18-24%, no water being added to the catholyte during steady state operation.

Abstract: A crystalline polyester film or sheet coated with a primer composition consisting essentially of a carboxylated polyurethane, wherein the carboxyl groups are introduced by esterifying the terminal hydroxyl groups and amidizing any terminal amine groups of the polyurethane with a dicarboxylic acid anhydride. Such primer compositions form continuous wet films and dry coatings and provide surfaces receptive to a variety of surface finishes such as further polymer coatings and inks.

Abstract: Polyethylene terephthalate scrap material containing on its surface a chlorine-containing polymer such as, for example, polyvinylidene chloride or polyvinyl chloride, can be recovered and reused by melt-blending it with a polymer from a defined class of ethylene copolymers containing an epoxy group, and melt processing the blend in the same manner as virgin polyethylene terephthalate. The recovered and reprocessed polymer material has good physical properties and barrier properties.

Abstract: A composition having improved fire retardancy consisting essentially of an ethylene copolymer with at least one other comonomer, an ethylene copolymer with an unsaturated carboxylic acid, an alpha-olefin polymer, a plasticizer, alumina hydrate and/or magnesium hydroxide, glass fiber, a surfactant, and an organic acid, is suitable for making building panels and other construction elements, roofing sheets, wire coatings, pipe wraps, etc.

Abstract: 1,4-Bis(4-phenoxybenzoyl)benzene is made in a heterogeneous system by a reaction of diphenyl ether with 1,4-benzenedicarbonyl chloride at 190.degree.-250.degree. C. in the presence of a zeolite catalyst having a ring structure containing 12 oxygen atoms, which can be either an activated zeolite in hydrogen form or an iron-exchanged zeolite, which zeolite can be readily separated from the hot liquid phase in the reaction mixture. The mole ratio of diphenyl ether to 1,4-dicarbonyl chloride, when the catalyst is in hydrogen form, is about 50-80:1; when the catalyst is in iron-exhcanged form, it is about 10-50:1, and the weight ratio of 1,4-benzenedicarbonyl chloride to zeolite in hydrogen form is 3:1 to 1:2, while the ratio of 1,4-benzenedicarbonyl chloride to zeolite in iron-exchanged form is 10:1 to 1:32. The product readily crystallizes in a high state of purity from the cooled solution. 1,4-Bis(4-phenoxybenzoyl)benzene is a vaulable intermediate in the synthesis of polyetherketone resins.

Abstract: A process for manufacturing 1,4-bis(4-phenoxybenzoyl)benzene, wehrein diphenyl ether is contacted for about 30-360 minutes at 130.degree.-200.degree. C. with 1,4-benzenedicarbonyl chloride in respective mole ratios of about 15-80:1 in the presence of a fluorocarbon resin carrying pendant sulfonic acid groups, the weight ratio of the resin to 1,4-benzenedicarbonyl chloride being 3:1-1:2; the hot solution is separated from the resin, and the crystalline product is recovered from the solution on cooling. The so obtained 1,4-bis(4-phenoxybenzoyl)-benzene is a high purity material free of ortho-isomer and catalyst contamination and can be used without further purification as one of the starting materials in the preparation of polyetherketones, which are important engineering resins.

Abstract: Polyethylene terephthalate scrap material containing on its surface a chlorine-containing polymer such as, for example, polyvinylidene chloride or polyvinyl chloride, can be recovered and reused by melt-blending it with a polymer from a defined class of ethylene copolymers containing an epoxy group, and melt processing the blend in the same manner as virgin polyethylene terephthalate. The recovered and reprocessed polymer material has good physical properties and barrier properties.

Abstract: Perfluoro(2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxole) forms oligomers on standing in the presence of an ether. The preferred ethers are aliphatic and cycloaliphatic, especially tetrahydrofuran. Free radical generators, especially peroxydicarbonates, may be added to the reaction medium. The oligomers have a degree of polymerization of about 2-8. They are useful as lubricants, hydraulic fluids, heat transfer agents, and plasticizers, and as intermediates to oligomeric acid fluorides and acids, which acids are useful surfactants.

Abstract: Perfluoro-1,3-dioxole is a useful monomer, which polymerizes to either amorphous or liquid homopolymers and copolymerizes with tetrafluoroethylene as well as with other monomers to both crystalline and amorphous copolymers having one or more such comonomers incorporated therein. Amorphous homopolymers and copolymers of perfluoro-1,3-dioxole are useful in such applications as glazing for reactors for hydrogen fluoride reactions. Amorphous homopolymers and amorphous or crystalline copolymers form self-supporting films and can be used for coatings and linings which are inert to most chemicals and are stain and weather resistant and as dielectrics for electrical and electronic equipment. Liquid homopolymers can be used as hydraulic fluids and heat exchange media.

Abstract: A blend of an E/X/Y copolymer, where E is ethylene, X is a vinyl ester, and Y is carbon monoxide or sulfur dioxide, with a polymer of vinyl halide or vinylidene halide is foamed and cured by dispersing in the blend a blowing agent and sulfur or a sulfur-releasing agent and heating the blend containing those additives at 100.degree.-180.degree. C. for a sufficient time to produce curing and foaming. This process can be run either continuously or batchwise in conventional equipment under conventional conditions in the presence of air. Plasticizers and other materials which often interfere with peroxide cures can be present in the process of this invention. The foamed and cured products have excellent physical properties and ozone resistance.

Abstract: A transparent, elastomeric, composite film structure having a core ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer and outer layers of a low density ethylene homopolymer or copolymer with a small amount of another .alpha.-olefin or vinyl acetate is made by coextrusion of the polymers in a three-layer combining adapter and quenching on a chill roll. This film structure is useful as a wrapping material, especially for heat-sensitive articles.

Abstract: Certain N,N'-ethylenebisamides and N,N'-diadipamides added to ethylene/vinyl acetate dipolymers, terpolymers of ethylene with carbon monoxide, copolymers of ethylene with methacrylic acid, copolymers of ethylene with methyl methacrylate, and terpolymers of ethylene with n-butyl acrylate and carbon monoxide remarkably reduce the tendency of polymer pellets to block. Free-flowing copolymer pellets can be handled without blocking and moved more quickly through the packing equipment and can be stored for extended periods without blocking. Copolymer pellets containing these additives can be packed into large containers and shipped without blocking. The preferred additive is N,N'-ethylenebisoleamide.

Abstract: An elastomeric composition comprising an elastomer matrix having dispersed therein about 3-30 parts per 100 parts by weight of the elastomer of powdered polytetrafluoroethylene having a number average molecular weight of at least about 250,000 and a surface area of at least 1 m.sup.2 /g which has been treated with about 50-120% of sodium-naphthalene addition compound or another addition compound of an alkali metal required for the alkali metal to react with all the fluorine atoms on the surface of the polytetrafluoroethylene powder.By dispersing such treated polytetrafluoroethylene powder in elastomer matrix, one increases significantly the tear strength of the elastomer, while increasing its modulus only moderately. In this way, the processability of the elastomeric compositions is not adversely affected.

Abstract: Perfluoro(2,2-dimethyl-1,3-dioxole) forms oligomers on standing in the presence of an ether. The preferred ethers are aliphatic and cycloaliphatic, especially tetrahydrofuran. Free radical generators, especially peroxydicarbonates, may be added to the reaction medium. The oligomers have a degree of polymerization of about 2-8. They are useful as lubricants, hydraulic fluids, heat transfer agents, and plasticizers, and as intermediates to oligomeric acid fluorides and acids, which acids are useful surfactants.

Abstract: Perfluoro-1,3-dioxole is a useful monomer, which polymerizes to either amorphous or liquid homopolymers and copolymerizes with tetrafluoroethylene as well as with other monomers to both crystalline and amorphous copolymers having one or more such comonomers incorporated therein. Amorphous homopolymers and copolymers of perfluoro-1,3-dioxole are useful in such applications as glazing for reactors for hydrogen fluoride reactions. Amorphous homopolymers and amorphous or crystalline copolymers form self-supporting films and can be used for coatings and linings which are inert to most chemicals and are stain and weather resistant and as dielectrics for electrical and electronic equipment. Liquid homopolymers can be used as hydraulic fluids and heat exchange media.

Abstract: Melt-fusible polyimides based on pyromellitic dianhydride and 2,2-bis[3,5-dichloro-4-(4-aminophenoxy)phenyl]propane, alone or in combination with other defined diamines, are useful in making low-void composites and thermoplastic tapes, which can be fabricated into articles such as, for example, aircraft and autobody panels, printed circuit boards, etc.

Abstract: Propagation of electrical trees and water trees in electrical insulation made of ethylene homopolymers or copolymers with an unsaturated monomer is inhibited by the addition to the insulating composition of an organic carboxylic ester having at least one aromatic ring and at least three carboxylic ester groups, the ester being liquid at the operating temperature of the electrical equipment in which the insulation is used. The main utility of the inhibitors of this invention is in the primary insulation for power transmission cables, especially those used in high voltage applications.

Abstract: A container having a multi-layer structure comprising a plurality of thermoplastic resins, wherein at least one layer of the container comprises one or more amorphous polyamides and at least one of the remaining layers comprises an oriented Thermoplastic resin.