Blowing Agents and Foaming Processes 2012. Proceedings of the 14th International Conference held Berlin, Germany, 8-9 May 2012: Rheological properties of cellulose acetate with respect to its foamability: influence of plasticizer and blowing agent

Today, oil-based polymers such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) or polystyrene (PS) are standard materials for producing extruded foam sheets with physical blowing agents (PBA). Basically, these polymers are non-biodegradable and based on non-renewable resources. Cellulose acetate (CA), as a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cellular polymers 2013-01, Vol.32 (1), p.65
Main Authors: Zepnik, S, Kildebrand, T, Kabasci, S, Radusch, H.J, Van Luck, F, Wodke, T
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Blowing agents
Chemical properties
Composition
Foam
Mechanical properties
Plasticizers
Polymers
Properties
Rheology
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Summary:Today, oil-based polymers such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) or polystyrene (PS) are standard materials for producing extruded foam sheets with physical blowing agents (PBA). Basically, these polymers are non-biodegradable and based on non-renewable resources. Cellulose acetate (CA), as a cellulose ester, is a biodegradable polymer based on renewable resources. Moreover, CA exhibits excellent optical, mechanical and thermal properties comparable to those of PS. Therefore, CA is a promising polymer to replace PS in certain applications. However, pure CA with a high degree of substitution (DS) cannot be processed using conventional thermoplastic processing technologies. Consequently, CA must be modified to achieve thermoplastic properties for foam extrusion. The most common method is the use of low molecular weight plasticisers. It is well known that rheological properties such as melt strength are essential for good foaming behaviour of the polymer. This contribution presents recent results of rheological characterisation of externally plasticised CA. The influence of plasticiser type and plasticiser concentration on rheological properties of CA with respect to its foamability was studied using rheotens test, rotational rheometer and capillary viscometer. Furthermore, the influence of blowing agent on the CA melt was investigated by means of an in-line rheometer. 35 Refs.
ISSN:0262-4893