CLOVERDALE, CA, June 14, 2018-

“Technique for selectively controlling the porosity of a polymeric material”; US 9,957,366 (May 1, 2018); filed: Jun. 6, 2014. Assignee: Kimberly-Clark Worldwide, Inc. (Neenah, WI), Inventor(s): Vasily A. Topolkaraev, Ryan J. McEneany, Neil T. Scholl.

A method for selectively controlling the degree of porosity in a polymeric material such as a film is provided. The material is formed from a thermoplastic composition containing a microinclusion additive and nanoinclusion additive that are dispersed within a continuous phase of a matrix polymer in the form of discrete domains. At least a portion of the polymeric material is strained so that a porous network is formed therein, Further, at least a portion of the strained polymeric material is heat treated so that it exhibits a Sower pore volume than the material prior to heat treatment, in this manner, the polymeric material can exhibit a high degree of initial flexibility, but this flexibility can be selectively reduced when desired.

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