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An Ultra-High Volume Expansion Ratio and No-Shrinkage Poly(Butylene Adipate-co-Terephthalate) Foam: Compression and Resilience Properties

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Abstract

Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) foam is regarded as one of the ideal alternatives to petroleum-based polymer foams in view of its advantages of lightweight, high elasticity, biodegradability and biocompatibility, while the problem of shrinkage after foaming has seriously limited its application in industry. In this paper, the no-shrinkage chain-extend PBAT-glycerin monostearate (GMS) foams with ultra-high volume expansion ratio (VER) were prepared by scCO2-assisted molten foaming method. The chain extension reaction between PBAT and chain extender (CE) were investigated by torque curves, gel fraction and FTIR measurements. Comparing with torqued PBAT, the storage modulus of CE-PBAT2 specimen increased 3 orders of magnitude and their crystallization temperature rose from 72.5 to 87.2 ℃. Furthermore, the addition of GMS was beneficial to enhance the dimensional stability of CE-PBAT foams. When 2 phr CE and 2.5 phr GMS were incorporated into PBAT, CEPBAT-GMS2.5 foam attained ultra-high VER of 25.38 times, resilience ratio of 87% with no-shrinkage, which revealed admirable compression and resilience properties. In conclusion, this study provided a feasible new method for improving the VER and dimensional stability of PBAT foams.

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Acknowledgements

The National Key Research and Development Program of China (Project No. 2022YFC2104600). R&D Program of Beijing Municipal Education Commission (23JB0024).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing Key Laboratory of Quality Evaluation Technology for Hygiene and Safety of Plastics, College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, 100048, People’s Republic of China

    Longzhen Wang, Xinyi Wei, Hongfu Zhou, Xiangdong Wang & Jing Hu

  2. Key Laboratory of Processing and Application of Polymeric Foams of China National Light Industry Council, College of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, 100048, People’s Republic of China

    Longzhen Wang, Xinyi Wei, Hongfu Zhou & Xiangdong Wang

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  1. Longzhen Wang
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  2. Xinyi Wei
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LW: Investigation & writing-review. XW: Investigation. HZ: Project administration, supervision & editing. XW: Investigation & supervision. JH: Project administration, supervision & editing.

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Correspondence to Hongfu Zhou or Jing Hu.

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Wang, L., Wei, X., Zhou, H. et al. An Ultra-High Volume Expansion Ratio and No-Shrinkage Poly(Butylene Adipate-co-Terephthalate) Foam: Compression and Resilience Properties. J Polym Environ (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10924-023-03152-x

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