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Properties of protective loose‐fill foams
Author(s) -
Tatarka P. D.,
Cunningham R. L.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4628(19980214)67:7<1157::aid-app1>3.0.co;2-f
Subject(s) - starch , materials science , composite material , expanded polystyrene , relative humidity , friability , blowing agent , chemical engineering , chemistry , polymer , food science , polyurethane , physics , ethyl cellulose , engineering , thermodynamics
Abstract This study compared the performance of eight commercial starch and expanded polystyrene (EPS)‐based loose‐fill foam products. Density of starch‐based foams is higher, by a factor of two to three times, than either EPS‐based ones. Compressive stress of most starch‐based foams did not differ significantly from 0.0893 MPa value for virgin EPS foam. EPS‐ and starch‐based foams have predominantly a closed and open cellular structure, respectively. Resiliency or elastic recovery of starch‐based foams had values between 69.5 and 71.25%, which is about 10% lower than virgin EPS foam. Friability of both starch‐ and EPS‐based foams was between 2 and 6 wt %, but starch‐based foams broke into a fine dust, whereas EPS‐based foams broke into large fragments. After conditioning at 20, 50, and 80% r.h., 23°C and 50% r.h., 35°C, the water content for starch‐based foams averaged 6.0, 9.5, 14, and 8.5 wt %, respectively. The mechanical properties of starch‐based foams were more sensitive to changes in relative humidity and temperature than EPS‐based foams, but the higher amount of absorbed moisture did not compromise its mechanical integrity. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. This article is a US Government work and, as such, is in the public domain in the United States of America. J Appl Polym Sci 67:1157–1176, 1998