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Gas absorption with filled polymer systems
Author(s) -
Chen Lee,
Sheth Himanshu,
Kim Roland
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
polymer engineering and science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.503
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1548-2634
pISSN - 0032-3888
DOI - 10.1002/pen.10800
Subject(s) - materials science , polymer , composite material , absorption (acoustics)
This paper deals with the gas absorption behavior of polymer systems. The emphasis is on the difference between filled and unfilled polymers to explain heterogeneous nucleation in filled polymers. A Foaming Process Simulator has been built to study the gas absorption. It consists of a test chamber that holds the polymer samples. The chamber can be pressurized with gas up to 5000 psi and heated up to 450°F. The gas pressure is monitored by a high‐accuracy pressure transducer and recorded by a data acquisition system. The amount of gas absorbed by a polymer is determined from the pressure change in the test chamber. A rotor applies shear to the polymer melt to investigate the shear effects. Two polymer systems were tested: HDPE with/without talc, and PVC with/without calcium carbonate. The fillers were well dispersed as verified with scanning electron microscope. The tests were done at the melt temperatures from 120°C to 177°C and a saturation pressure of about 18.9 MPa. It was found that the filled polymers absorb more gas compared to the unfilled ones. It is suggested that there is a certain amount of gas accumulated in the filler‐polymer interface. This accumulated gas helps to create cells during the foaming process.