Partic. vol. 8 no. 6 pp. 607-612 (December 2010)
doi: 10.1016/j.partic.2010.09.008

Manipulation of polymer foam structure based on CO₂-induced changes in polymer fundamental properties

Tao Liu, Dachao Li, Ling Zhao^*, Weikang Yuan

zhaoling@ecust.edu.cn

Abstract

Foaming of polymers with CO₂ has attracted increasing attention in polymer processing studies. Some of the fundamental properties of polymer/CO₂ systems is discussed in this short review, including solubility and diffusivity of CO₂ in the polymer, polymer crystallization, interfacial tension between the polymer and the gas, and rheology of the CO₂/polymers melt. These properties understandably affect the foaming process, and the structures of the foam products. Meanwhile, these properties can be changed via manipulation of CO₂ in polymer. The proposed idea is to manipulate the foaming process and the foam structure by CO₂-induced changes in these properties. Two cases from the authors’ laboratory are presented for elucidating how to use the changes to manipulate the foaming process.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

CO₂; Polymer fundamental properties; Foaming; Manipulation