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Effects of compatibility on foaming behavior of polypropylene/polyolefin elastomer blends prepared using a chemical blowing agent
Author(s) -
Kim Do Young,
Kim Gi Hong,
Lee Dong Yun,
Seo Kwan Ho
Publication year - 2017
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/app.45201
Subject(s) - polyolefin , compatibility (geochemistry) , polypropylene , blowing agent , elastomer , materials science , composite material , polymer science , polyurethane , layer (electronics)
Polypropylene (PP) exhibits poor foaming property because of its low melt strength arising from its linear chains and relatively narrow molecular weight distribution. To fabricate a PP foam without crosslinking, PP should be blended with polyolefin elastomers (POEs) using chemical blowing agents. In this study, the effects of POE types and contents in a PP matrix were studied by analyzing the melt flow index, morphology, and thermal and dynamic viscoelastic properties. Furthermore, the POE type/content and foaming conditions (i.e., foaming temperature and oven residence time) were optimized by investigating the volume expansion ratio (VER), cross‐sectional morphology, and hardness of the PP/POE foams. We focused on how the foaming behavior and foaming conditions were affected by the compatibility and POE content in the PP/POE blend. The results demonstrated that the optimal VER of ∼9 was obtained at 30 wt % POE and foaming conditions of 220 °C for 9 min. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134 , 45201.