Improvements in or relating to the manufacture of polymers

The invention comprises the use as the organic isocyanate of an aliphatic, cycloaliphatic or aryl aliphatic isocyanate, in an improvement or modification of the process claimed in Claim 1 of the parent Specification. Isocyanates specified are polymethylene and cycloaliphatic diisocyanates, m- and p-xylylene diisocyanates, xylylene diisocyanates substituted in the nucleus by halogen and nitro groups and diisocyanates of the formula p p-OCN(CH2)n.C6H4(CH2)mNCO where n and m are integers from 1 to 10. Reaction products of a molar excess of such diisocyanates with polyols can also be used. In addition to those mentioned in the parent Specification suitable starting materials are polyethers from cyclic oxides and triethanolamine, pentaerythritol, sorbitol, sucrose, phenol-for-maldehyde reaction products, hexamethylene diamine, diethylene triamine, tolylene diamine and diaminodiphenylmethane.ALSO:The invention comprises the use as the organic isocyanate of an aliphatic, cyclo-aliphatic or arylaliphatic isocyanate in an improvement or modification of the process claimed in Claim 1 of the parent Specification. Iso-cyanates specified are polymethylene and cyclohexylene diisocyanates, m- and p-xylylene diisocyanates, xylylene diisocyanates substituted in the nucleus by halogen and nitro groups, and diisocyanates of the formula p-OCN (CH2)n C6Hh (CH2)m NCO where n and m are integers from 1 to 10. Reaction products of a molar excess of such diisocyanates with polyols can also be used. Additional starting materials specified include polyethers from cyclic oxides and triethanolamine, pentaerythritol, sorbitol, sucrose, phenolformaldehyde reaction products, hexamethylene diamine, diethylene, triamine, tolylene diamine and diamino diphenylmethane. Foamed products are obtained using water as a reactant or a fluorinated alkane, with or without other substituted or unsubstituted hydro-carbons as components of the reaction mixture. In examples foams are obtained from (2) portions of a mixture of hexamethylene, oxypropylated sucrose and trichlorofluoromethane and chloroform solutions of, respectively: manganic acetylacetonate, zirconium acetylacetonate, diisopropoxy bis (2 : 4-pentanediono) titanium IV.