Sustainable Polymer Foams and Nanocomposites: Design, Manufacturing and Recycling

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

With increasing awareness for sustainability, polymer foam forms (offers) an attractive choice of materials in many applications to achieve reduction in material consumption while delivering high strength to weight ratio, for energy conservation, etc. The global trend towards green manufacturing has also seen increasing studies on the use of inert gases as physical blowing agent in developing these foams. The choice of blowing agents, materials and processing technique has significant influence on the morphologies of foams, leading to opportunities for creating new generation of foams with potential for new applications. This topic aims to present recent advancement in development of thermoplastic functional foams, nano-composites or composite foams derived from sustainable/functional materials choice and/or from adoption of green foaming processes. Studies on application development or foam morphologies to mechanical/functional properties relationship of these new generation of foams are highly welcome.

Dr. Chaoying Wan
Dr. Soo Khim Lau
Dr. Yongsheng Zhao
Topic Editors

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Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Journal of Composites Science jcs	3.7	5.8	2017	16.2 Days	CHF 1800
Materials materials	3.2	6.4	2008	15.2 Days	CHF 2600
Polymers polymers	4.9	9.7	2009	14 Days	CHF 2700
Sustainability sustainability	3.3	7.7	2009	19.3 Days	CHF 2400

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All J. Compos. Sci. Materials Polymers Sustainability

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Open AccessArticle

In Situ Dispersion of Lignin in Polypropylene via Supercritical CO₂ Extrusion Foaming: Effects of Lignin on Cell Nucleation and Foam Compression Properties

by Keen Hoe Ho, Xuehong Lu and Soo Khim Lau

Polymers 2023, 15(8), 1813; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15081813 - 7 Apr 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1825

Abstract

Supercritical CO₂ (scCO₂) extrusion foamed high-melt-strength (HMS) polypropylene (PP) often suffers from low cell density, large cell sizes, and poor cell structure uniformity due to the poor nucleation rates of CO₂ in the PP. To remedy this, various inorganic [...] Read more.

Supercritical CO₂ (scCO₂) extrusion foamed high-melt-strength (HMS) polypropylene (PP) often suffers from low cell density, large cell sizes, and poor cell structure uniformity due to the poor nucleation rates of CO₂ in the PP. To remedy this, various inorganic fillers have been used as heterogeneous nucleation agents. Although their efficient nucleation effects have been demonstrated, the preparation of these fillers causes some adverse effects on the environment/human health or involves relatively expensive processes or non-eco-friendly chemicals. In this work, biomass-based lignin is studied as a sustainable, lightweight, and cost-effective nucleating agent. It is found that scCO₂ could assist in situ dispersion of lignin in the PP in the foaming process, leading to significantly increased cell density, smaller cells, and improved cell uniformity. The Expansion Ratio is also simultaneously improved due to reduced diffusive gas loss. The PP/lignin foams with low lignin loadings exhibit higher compression moduli and plateau strengths than the PP foams with the same densities owing to the improved cell uniformity and probably also the reinforcing effect of the small lignin particles in cell walls. Moreover, the energy absorption capability of the PP/lignin foam with 1 wt% lignin could match the PP foam with similar compression plateau strengths; even the density of the former is 28% lower than the latter. Therefore, this work provides a promising approach to a cleaner and more sustainable production of HMS PP foams. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Sustainable Polymer Foams and Nanocomposites: Design, Manufacturing and Recycling)

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