Biodegradable poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) foams with high performance are usually difficult to be prepared because of its lower melt viscosity. Herein, high‐melt‐viscosity PBS was firstly prepared by combining the in situ reaction between carboxyl‐ended polyester (CP) and solid epoxy (SE) both as viscosifier and strengthening agent with the presence of crosslinking agent of dicumyl peroxide (DCP) and crosslinking co‐agent of trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate. Then enhanced PBS foams were successfully prepared by the traditional chemical compression‐molding method. Furthermore, the content effects of CP/SE, blowing agent azodicarbonamide, and DCP on the properties and morphologies of enhanced PBS foams were studied in details. Results revealed that the tensile strength of the as‐prepared PBS foams was as high as 32.3 MPa with the density of 0.58 g/cm3, which was higher than that of pure PBS resin (25.6 MPa). POLYM. ENG. SCI., 56:1275–1282, 2016. © 2016 Society of Plastics Engineers

Expanding the applications of poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) in processing fields requiring high melt strength, PBS/solid epoxy (SE)/carboxyl-ended polyester (CP) blends with high melt viscosity were fabricated by the in-situ crosslinking reaction using SE and CP. The influence of SE/CP had been studied in terms of the rheological property, crystallization behavior, and mechanical property of PBS. The results showed that the melt viscosity of PBS could be enhanced significantly by three orders of magnitude, when the loading ratio of SE to CP was over 15/15. Furthermore, it had also been found that SE/CP component had positive impact on the mechanical properties of PBS, inclusive of reduction of brittleness.