Research paper of “Millefeuille-like Cellular Structures of Biopolymer Blend Foams Prepared by the Foam Injection Molding Technique” was accepted by the journal of applied polymer science
Millefeuille-like Cellular Structure of Biopolymer Blend Foams Prepared by the Foam Injection Molding Technique, Dongho Kim, Yuta Hikima, Masahiro Ohshima was accepted by the Journal of Applied Polymer Science (IF 3.125).
The abstract is as follows: If you are interested in the paper, please contact us:
Abstract: Microcellular foams with a unique cellular structure were prepared from poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and poly(butylene succinate-co-adipate) (PBSA) blends using a foam injection molding technique with a core-back operation. PLA and PBSA are biopolymers that are partially miscible with each other. When these biopolymers were blended, several blend morphologies appeared that were found to be dependent on the blend ratio. The blend morphologies and the thermal and rheological properties of polymer blends with PLA/PBSA ratios of 100/0, 30/70, 50/50, 70/30, and 0/100 were observed, and the cellular structure of their foams was investigated. While most of the polymer blends show sea and island structures, a polymer blend with a PLA/PBSA ratio of 50/50 showed a layered structure for the two polymers where the continuous phases of both polymers are elongated in the flow direction used for injection molding. By utilizing the unique blend morphology and the difference in the viscosities of the two polymers, a millefeuille-like microcellular structure is created from a 50/50 blend. The foams with millefeuille-like cellular structures show unique anisotropic mechanical properties. This study reveals a method for preparing foams with anisotropic mechanical properties.