Issue 17/2020 - New progress in the research of biodegradable polymer foams

Recently, the research team of polymer foam materials of Beijing Technology and Business University used two-phase blending, nanocomposite, expansion of links and other technical strategies to modify polymers such as polylactic acid, polybutylene succinate, polyadipic acid-butylene terephthalate, etc.
, and achieved a series of research results
in biodegradable polymer foaming molding methods, cell structure regulation, foam performance optimization, etc.

The research team prepared branched polybutylene succinate/cellulose nanocrystalline nanocomposite foam
by supercritical_CO2 foaming.
Due to the formation of branched structure and the addition of biomass filler, the initial crystallization temperature of polybutylene succinate composite material increased by 11.
8 °C, the energy storage modulus increased by 2 orders of magnitude, and the foaming rate of composite foam material could reach 37.
1 times
.
This research provides a feasible development strategy
for the development of energy-saving and environmentally friendly highly insulating polymer foam materials.

The team also used supercritical_CO2 foaming to prepare ultra-high foaming rate polylactic acid/carbon nanotube nanocomposite foam
.
Rheological performance tests have shown that the energy storage modulus of this nanocomposite is 3 orders of magnitude
higher than that of pure polylactic acid.
The foaming rate of the nanocomposite foam can reach up to 49.
6 times, which provides a new idea
for the development of other thermoplastic polyester foam materials with ultra-high foaming rate.