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Polymer Foams Stabilized by Particles Adsorbed at the Air/Polymer Interface
Author(s) -
Thareja Prachi,
Ising Brian P.,
Kingston Samuel J.,
Velankar Sachin S.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
macromolecular rapid communications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.348
H-Index - 154
eISSN - 1521-3927
pISSN - 1022-1336
DOI - 10.1002/marc.200800262
Subject(s) - polymer , adsorption , materials science , pulmonary surfactant , aqueous solution , chemical engineering , polymer chemistry , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , engineering
In aqueous systems, partially hydrophobic particles are known to stabilize foams even in the absence of any added surfactant. This paper shows that the same principle can be applied to polymeric systems: particles that are partially wetted by a polymer melt can stabilize a foam of that polymer. The foam stability is attributable to the adsorption of the particles at the air/polymer interface. Remarkably, stable foams are realized even from polymers that are liquid at room temperature, and hence are otherwise unfoamable. The implications of this result to practical foaming operations are discussed.