Feng Dong, Li Li, Wang Qi
State Key Laboratory of Polymer Materials Engineering, Polymer Research Institute of Sichuan University Chengdu 610065 China
RSC Adv. 2019 Jan 30;9(7):4072-4081. doi: 10.1039/c8ra09706b. eCollection 2019 Jan 25.
The fabrication of light-weight and high-performance polymer foams, especially special engineering plastic foams, with complicate three-dimensional (3D) geometry remains a great challenge worldwide. In this study, microcellular polyetherimide (PEI) bead foams with 3D geometry and high expansion ratio were successfully prepared by using supercritical CO (scCO)/ethanol (EtOH) as co-blowing agent. The co-foaming mechanism and the effect of EtOH on foaming properties were studied. The results indicated that the addition of EtOH increased the solubility of co-blowing agent in PEI matrix by promoting the interactions between them, thus broadening the foaming temperature window and significantly increasing the expansion ratio, up to 7.12. The obtained PEI foams with 3D geometry had the cell size of 58.54 μm and cell density of 3.66 × 10 cells per cm, as well as excellent mechanical strength, , tensile stress of 6.59 MPa and compression stress of 6.87 MPa. This co-foaming technology also has a great potential in fabricating other high-performance polymer foams.
制造具有复杂三维（3D）几何形状的轻质高性能聚合物泡沫，特别是特种工程塑料泡沫，在全球范围内仍然是一项巨大的挑战。在本研究中，以超临界CO（scCO）/乙醇（EtOH）作为共发泡剂，成功制备了具有3D几何形状和高膨胀率的微孔聚醚酰亚胺（PEI）珠粒泡沫。研究了共发泡机理以及EtOH对发泡性能的影响。结果表明，EtOH的加入通过促进其与PEI基体之间的相互作用，提高了共发泡剂在PEI基体中的溶解度，从而拓宽了发泡温度窗口，并显著提高了膨胀率，高达7.12。所制备的具有3D几何形状的PEI泡沫的泡孔尺寸为58.54μm，泡孔密度为每立方厘米3.66×10个泡孔，同时具有优异的机械强度，拉伸应力为6.59MPa，压缩应力为6.87MPa。这种共发泡技术在制造其他高性能聚合物泡沫方面也具有巨大潜力。
