Recent advancements in manufacturing technologies of microcellular polymers: a review

Dugad, Rupesh; Radhakrishna, Ganesh; Gandhi, Abhishek

doi:10.1007/s10965-020-02157-7

Cited by 35 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 143 publications

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“…This indicates that a larger number of nucleating sites is still present and lets us assume that there is no severe dissolution and self-assembly issue at a high concentration of 1a . Although bimodal foam morphologies were reported in the literature [ 2 , 40 ], we cannot clearly assign at the current stage this inhomogeneity to a specific effect caused by the additive.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 65%

“…Polystyrene (PS) foams are widely used in a variety of applications, e.g., packaging, building and construction or in the automotive sector [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]. This is attributed to the low cost and established manufacturability of the polymer and foamed products, with the latter in particular excelling in their superior mechanical as well as thermal and acoustic insulation properties.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These macroscopic properties are directly related to the foam morphology and foam density, with the key aspects being cell size and cell size distribution, cell density, and the open or closed cellular structure [ 1 , 4 , 5 ]. In this context, homogeneous microcellular and closed-cell foams with cell sizes of 10 µm or below as well as low foam densities with volume expansion ratios (VER) of larger than 10 are expected to show improved mechanical and thermal properties compared to macroscopic foams featuring cell sizes above 300 µm [ 1 , 2 , 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Kinked Bisamides as Efficient Supramolecular Foam Cell Nucleating Agents for Low-Density Polystyrene Foams with Homogeneous Microcellular Morphology

et al. 2021

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Polystyrene foams have become more and more important owing to their lightweight potential and their insulation properties. Progress in this field is expected to be realized by foams featuring a microcellular morphology. However, large-scale processing of low-density foams with a closed-cell structure and volume expansion ratio of larger than 10, exhibiting a homogenous morphology with a mean cell size of approximately 10 µm, remains challenging. Here, we report on a series of 4,4′-diphenylmethane substituted bisamides, which we refer to as kinked bisamides, acting as efficient supramolecular foam cell nucleating agents for polystyrene. Self-assembly experiments from solution showed that these bisamides form supramolecular fibrillary or ribbon-like nanoobjects. These kinked bisamides can be dissolved at elevated temperatures in a large concentration range, forming dispersed nano-objects upon cooling. Batch foaming experiments using 1.0 wt.% of a selected kinked bisamide revealed that the mean cell size can be as low as 3.5 µm. To demonstrate the applicability of kinked bisamides in a high-throughput continuous foam process, we performed foam extrusion. Using 0.5 wt.% of a kinked bisamide yielded polymer foams with a foam density of 71 kg/m3 and a homogeneous microcellular morphology with cell sizes of ≈10 µm, which is two orders of magnitude lower compared to the neat polystyrene reference foam with a comparable foam density.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 65%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Kinked Bisamides as Efficient Supramolecular Foam Cell Nucleating Agents for Low-Density Polystyrene Foams with Homogeneous Microcellular Morphology

et al. 2021

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“…The demand for cellular plastic materials is increasing significantly due to its very diverse industrial utilization such as in lightweight, insulation, purification, shock-absorbing and sound-absorbing applications. 1-4 The replacement of solid polymer with its foamed counterpart results in reduction in product weight combined with additional provision for attaining tailor made properties according to the desired end application. Carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) foaming is a green process used for developing thermoplastic polymeric foams by utilizing CO 2 as a physical blowing agent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Morphological evaluation of microcellular foamed composites developed through gas batch foaming integrating Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printing technique

2021

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In this article, the development of microcellular structure foams has developed by integrating the two successful and existing technologies, namely CO2 gas batch foaming and Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printing technique. It is a novel approach to manufacture complex design porous products for customized applications. The eventual cell morphologies of the extruded 3D printing filament depends on the process parameters pertaining to both microcellular foaming and 3D printing processes. Further, morphological study has been conducted to evaluate the cell morphologies of the 3D printing filament developed through customized FDM setup. During this process, the significance of various process parameters including saturation pressure, saturation time, desorption time, feed rate and extrusion temperature were thoroughly studied. To pursue this study base material used was acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). The 3D printed filaments consisted of cells with an average cell size in the range of 2.3–276 µm and the average cell density in the range of 4.7 × 104 to 4.3 × 109 cells/cm3. Finally, it has found that by controlling the process parameters different cell morphologies can be developed as per the end application.

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“…Polymer foams find a wide range of applications, including in pillows and mattresses, physical insulation, furniture, engineering materials, housing decoration, and electronic devices, etc. In comparison to metallic and inorganic (e.g., ceramic and glass) porous materials, polymeric porous materials are of interest as they are substantially lighter (because of their lower density), have lower cost, offer a wider range of compressive strengths (from elastic to flexible to semirigid to rigid), and are producible at considerably lower temperatures using a range of methods, including spray foaming [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ]. This review will focus on foams of a polymeric nature only.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Progress in Processing Functionally Graded Polymer Foams

2020

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Polymer foams are an important class of engineering material that are finding diverse applications, including as structural parts in automotive industry, insulation in construction, core materials for sandwich composites, and cushioning in mattresses. The vast majority of these manufactured foams are homogeneous with respect to porosity and structural properties. In contrast, while cellular materials are also ubiquitous in nature, nature mostly fabricates heterogeneous foams, e.g., cellulosic plant stems like bamboo, or a human femur bone. Foams with such engineered porosity distribution (graded density structure) have useful property gradients and are referred to as functionally graded foams. Functionally graded polymer foams are one of the key emerging innovations in polymer foam technology. They allow enhancement in properties such as energy absorption, more efficient use of material, and better design for specific applications, such as helmets and tissue restorative scaffolds. Here, following an overview of key processing parameters for polymer foams, we explore recent developments in processing functionally graded polymer foams and their emerging structures and properties. Processes can be as simple as utilizing different surface materials from which the foam forms, to as complex as using microfluidics. We also highlight principal challenges that need addressing in future research, the key one being development of viable generic processes that allow (complete) control and tailoring of porosity distribution on an application-by-application basis.

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Recent advancements in manufacturing technologies of microcellular polymers: a review

Cited by 35 publications

References 143 publications

Kinked Bisamides as Efficient Supramolecular Foam Cell Nucleating Agents for Low-Density Polystyrene Foams with Homogeneous Microcellular Morphology

Kinked Bisamides as Efficient Supramolecular Foam Cell Nucleating Agents for Low-Density Polystyrene Foams with Homogeneous Microcellular Morphology

Morphological evaluation of microcellular foamed composites developed through gas batch foaming integrating Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printing technique

Recent Progress in Processing Functionally Graded Polymer Foams

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