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Polymers
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Thermoplastic Foams: Processing, Manufacturing, and Characterization
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Thermoplastic Foams: Processing, Manufacturing, and Characterization

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Composites and Nanocomposites".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 6002

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Anna Strąkowska

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Polymer and Dye Technology, Department of Chemistry, Lodz University of Technology, Lodz, Poland
Interests: product design; product design; characteristics of polymer materials; polyurethane foam; reinforced composites; flame-retardant polymer composites; biocomposites and polymer bioadditives; self-healing composites

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue titled “Thermoplastic Foams: Processing, Production, and Characterization” contains articles in the form of full articles or review articles on topics related to the synthesis, characterization, modification, and processing of porous polymer composites for various applications.

Polymer foams, thanks to specific properties such as lightness, reduced thermal conductivity, high energy absorption and excellent strength-to-weight ratio, have found many applications in various fields of industry and everyday life. The range of possible applications includes transport, bedding, carpet underlays, textiles, toys, sports instruments, insulation devices, as well as the construction, biomedical and automotive sectors. Foam is essentially a polymer matrix in which gas is enclosed, giving the material a microcellular structure. Due to the structure of the cells, foams can be rigid or flexible, with a closed or open cell structure. The morphology of the foam itself provides unlimited possibilities in imparting new properties to the prepared foams, not to mention the type of polymer material or additives, which may also affect the possibility of obtaining foams with different/improved properties.

However, due to the need to reduce the carbon footprint and the consumption of petroleum-based raw materials, there is a constant search for new raw materials for obtaining polymer composites, including foams, that will meet the growing market requirements and environmental standards. Hence, scientists are increasingly making efforts to produce polymer biocomposites, which will at least partially eliminate the need to use petrochemical raw materials and will give the green light to the use of biomass or recyclates.

Manuscripts related to the following topics are of interest for this Special Issue:

  • Thermoplastic, thermoset and elastomeric-based foams;
  • Biopolymer-based and biodegradable polymer foams;
  • High-temperature and high-performance polymer foams;
  • Flame retardant foams;
  • Composite and nanocomposite foams;
  • Microcellular, submicrocellular and nanocellular foams;
  • Closed, open and interconnected cell foams;
  • Innovative foaming methods and technologies;
  • Thermally and electrically conductive polymer foams;
  • Polymer foams with increased thermal insulation;
  • Polymer foams with increased specific mechanical properties;
  • Recycling and reuse of polymer foams.

I am pleased to invite you to submit manuscripts for this Special Issue. Full articles and reviews are welcome.

Dr. Anna Strąkowska
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • polymeric foams
  • cellular structure
  • manoporous foams
  • porous biocomposites
  • closed-cell structure
  • open-cell structure
  • insulating properties
  • functional foams

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 2354 KiB  
Article
Moisture-Driven Morphology Changes in the Thermal and Dielectric Properties of TPU-Based Syntactic Foams
by Sabarinathan Pushparaj Subramaniyan, Partha Pratim Das, Rassel Raihan and Pavana Prabhakar
Polymers 2025, 17(5), 691; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17050691 - 5 Mar 2025
Viewed by 781
Abstract
Syntactic foams are a promising candidate for applications in marine, oil and gas industries in underwater cables and pipelines due to their excellent insulation properties. The effective transmission of electrical energy through cables requires insulation materials with a low loss factor and low [...] Read more.
Syntactic foams are a promising candidate for applications in marine, oil and gas industries in underwater cables and pipelines due to their excellent insulation properties. The effective transmission of electrical energy through cables requires insulation materials with a low loss factor and low dielectric constant. Similarly, in transporting fluid through pipelines, thermal insulation is crucial. However, both applications are susceptible to potential environmental degradation from moisture exposure, which can significantly impact the material’s properties. This study addresses the knowledge gap by examining the implications of prolonged moisture exposure on thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer (TPU) and TPU-derived syntactic foam via various multi-scale material characterization methods. This research investigates a flexible syntactic foam composed of TPU and glass microballoons (GMBs) fabricated through selective laser sintering. The study specifically examines the effects of moisture exposure over periods of 90 and 160 days, in conjunction with varying GMB volume fractions of 0%, 20%, and 40%. It aims to elucidate the resulting microphase morphological changes, their underlying mechanisms, and the subsequent impact on thermal transport and dielectric properties, all in comparison to unaged samples of the same material. Our findings reveal that increasing the volume fraction of GMB in TPU-based syntactic foam reduces its thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity. However, moisture exposure did not significantly affect the foam’s thermal conductivity. Additionally, we found that the dielectric constant of the syntactic foams decreases with increasing volume fraction of GMB and decreasing frequency of the applied field, which is due to limited molecular orientation in response to the field. Finally, moisture exposure affects the dielectric loss factor of TPU-based syntactic foams with GMBs, possibly due to the distribution morphology of hard and soft segments in TPU. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermoplastic Foams: Processing, Manufacturing, and Characterization)
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17 pages, 6749 KiB  
Article
High-Quality Foaming and Weight Reduction in Microcellular-Injection-Molded Polycarbonate Using Supercritical Fluid Carbon Dioxide under Gas Counter Pressure
by Yogi Hendra Agustion, Shia-Chung Chen, Ching-Te Feng and Bermawi Priyatna Iskandar
Polymers 2024, 16(18), 2674; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16182674 - 23 Sep 2024
Viewed by 1726
Abstract
Microcellular injection molding (MuCell®) using supercritical fluid (SCF) as a foaming agent to achieve weight reduction has become popular in carbon emission reduction. In the typical MuCell® process, SCF N2 is commonly used. Although SCF CO2 exhibits high solubility [...] Read more.
Microcellular injection molding (MuCell®) using supercritical fluid (SCF) as a foaming agent to achieve weight reduction has become popular in carbon emission reduction. In the typical MuCell® process, SCF N2 is commonly used. Although SCF CO2 exhibits high solubility and can achieve a high weight reduction, controlling the foaming is not easy, and its foaming cells are usually larger and less uniform, which limits its industrial application. Our previous studies have shown that gas counter pressure (GCP) can improve the foaming quality effectively. Here, we investigated whether or not the CO2 SCF foaming quality could be improved, and weight reduction was achieved for polycarbonate (PC) material. This is quite important for the electronics industry, in which most of the housing for devices is made of PC materials. MuCell® was subjected to molding experiments using the parameters of the SCF dosage, melt temperature, mold temperature, and injection speed. The results revealed that using CO2 gas for the PC material can reduce the size of microcellular cells to 40 µm and increase the cell densities to 3.97 × 106 cells/cm3. Using GCP significantly improved the microcellular injection-molded parts by reducing the cell size to 20.9 µm (a 45.41% improvement) and increasing the cell density to 8.04 × 106 cells/cm3 (a 102.48% improvement). However, implementing GCP may slightly decrease the target weight reduction. This study reveals that microcellular injection molding of PC parts using SCF CO2 can achieve high-quality foaming and reduce the weight by about 30%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermoplastic Foams: Processing, Manufacturing, and Characterization)
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16 pages, 6329 KiB  
Article
Investigation of Recycled Expanded Polyamide Beads through Artificial Ageing and Mechanical Recycling as a Proof of Concept for Circular Economy
by Sören Handtke, Lena Brömstrup, Jörg Hain, Fabian Fischer, Tim Ossowski, Sven Hartwig and Klaus Dröder
Polymers 2024, 16(12), 1730; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16121730 - 18 Jun 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1426
Abstract
Car manufacturers are currently challenged with increasing the sustainability of their products and production to comply with sustainability requirements and legislation. One way to enhance product sustainability is by reducing the carbon footprint of fossil-based plastic parts. Particle foams are a promising solution [...] Read more.
Car manufacturers are currently challenged with increasing the sustainability of their products and production to comply with sustainability requirements and legislation. One way to enhance product sustainability is by reducing the carbon footprint of fossil-based plastic parts. Particle foams are a promising solution to achieve the goal of using lightweight parts with minimal material input. Ongoing developments involve the use of expanded particle foam beads made from engineering plastics such as polyamide (EPA). To achieve this, a simulated life cycle was carried out on virgin EPA, including mechanical recycling. The virgin material was processed into specimens using a steam-free method. One series was artificially aged to replicate automotive life cycle stresses, while the other series was not. The mechanical recycling and re-foaming of the minipellets were then carried out, resulting in an EPA particle foam with 100% recycled content. Finally, the thermal and chemical material properties were comparatively analysed. The study shows that the recycled EPA beads underwent polymer degradation during the simulated life cycle, as evidenced by their material properties. For instance, the recycled beads showed a more heterogeneous molecular weight distribution (an increase in PDI from two to three), contained carbonyl groups, and exhibited an increase in the degree of crystallization from approximately 24% to 36%. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermoplastic Foams: Processing, Manufacturing, and Characterization)
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17 pages, 4422 KiB  
Article
Preparation and Characterization of Date Palm Bio-Oil Modified Phenolic Foam
by Paprayil Reghunadh Sarika, Paul Nancarrow, Yassir Makkawi and Taleb H. Ibrahim
Polymers 2024, 16(7), 955; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16070955 - 31 Mar 2024
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1366
Abstract
In this work, the potential of biomass-derived date palm bio-oil as a partial substitute for phenol in the phenolic resin was evaluated. Date palm bio-oils derived from date palm were used for the partial substitution of phenol in the preparation of phenolic foam [...] Read more.
In this work, the potential of biomass-derived date palm bio-oil as a partial substitute for phenol in the phenolic resin was evaluated. Date palm bio-oils derived from date palm were used for the partial substitution of phenol in the preparation of phenolic foam (PF) insulation materials. Date palm waste material was processed using pyrolysis at 525 °C to produce bio-oil rich in phenolic compounds. The bio-oil was used to partially replace phenol in the synthesis of phenolic resin, which was subsequently used to prepare foams. The resulting changes in the physical, mechanical, and thermal properties of the foams were studied. The substituted foams exhibited 93%, 181%, and 40% improvement in compressive strength with 10%, 15%, and 20% bio-oil substitution, respectively. Due to the incorporation of biomass waste material, the partial reduction in phenol uses, and the favorable properties, the date palm bio-oil substituted phenolic foams are considered more environmentally benign alternatives to traditional phenolic foams. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Thermoplastic Foams: Processing, Manufacturing, and Characterization)
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