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Enhanced Foamability with Shrinking Microfibers in Linear Polymer
Eric S Kim1, Heon E Park2, Carlos R Lopez-Barron3
1Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, 5 King's College Road, Toronto, ON M5S 3G8, Canada. ericskim@mie.utoronto.ca.
Polymers
|April 10, 2019
Summary
Smart microfiber blending offers a cost-effective way to enhance polymer strain hardening. Compounding polymers with shrinking microfibers significantly improves rheological properties and foam morphology, allowing tailored material behavior.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Polymer Science
- Rheology
Background:
- Strain hardening is crucial for polymer processing, but traditional methods like chemical branching are costly.
- Controlling strain hardening is essential for applications such as foaming, film forming, and fiber extrusion.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of compounding polymers with microfibers on rheological behavior and foam morphology.
- To evaluate the effectiveness of smart microfiber blending technology for cost-efficient strain hardening control.
Main Methods:
- Utilized shear and extensional rheometry to assess polymer-microfiber composites.
- Investigated foam morphologies formed by batch physical foaming with carbon dioxide.
- Compared the effects of in situ shrinking microfibers versus nonshrinking microfibers.
Main Results:
- Compounding with in situ shrinking microfibers significantly enhanced strain hardening compared to nonshrinking microfibers.
- Shrinking microfibers led to a greater increase in both loss and storage modulus at low frequencies.
- Physical foaming experiments showed increased cell population density and expansion ratio with shrinking microfibers.
Conclusions:
- Smart microfiber blending, particularly with shrinking microfibers, offers a viable and cost-efficient method to improve polymer strain hardening.
- The observed enhancement in strain hardening is tunable by adjusting processing conditions, such as temperature.
- This technology enables precise control over material properties for advanced polymer processing.
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