Solid-State Foaming of Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene/Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate Using Carbon Dioxide as a Blowing Agent

• Main Authors: Dong Eui Kwon, Byung Kyu Park, Youn-Woo Lee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-02-01
• Series: Polymers
• Subjects: acrylontrile-butadiene-styrene; recycled polyethylene terephthalate; solid-state foaming; carbon dioxide; microcellular foam; cell size distribution
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/11/2/291

In this study, a single paragraph of acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS)/recycled polyethylene terephthalate (R-PET) polymeric foams is prepared using CO₂ as a blowing agent. First, the sorption kinetics of subcritical and supercritical CO₂ are first studied at saturation temperatures from −20 to 40 °C and a pressure of 10 MPa, in order to estimate the diffusion coefficient and the sorption amount. As the sorption temperature increases, the diffusion coefficient of CO₂ increases while the sorption amount decreases. Then, a series of two-step solid-state foaming experiments are conducted. In this process, a specimen is saturated with liquid CO₂ and foamed by dipping the sample in a high-temperature medium at 60 to 120 °C. The effects of foaming temperature and depressurization rate on the morphology and structure of ABS/R-PET microcellular foams are examined. The mean cell size and the variation of the cell size distribution increases as the foaming temperature and the depressurization rate increases.