Preparation and cell morphology of ethylene‐vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA)/wood‐flour foams with low density

The main objective of this study is to obtain ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA)/wood-flour foams with low density (< 0.2 g/cm3) using chemical blowing agent. Stearic acid was used as a compatibilizer to improve not only the compatibility between wood-flour and EVA but also the compatibility between moisture and EVA in this study. The effects of wood-flour content on the density and mechanical properties of EVA/wood-flour foams were studied. Also, the effects of content of stearic acid on the cell morphology of EVA/wood-flour foams were investigated. The shape of EVA/wood-flour foams with 20% wood-flour content becomes more uniform with increasing content of stearic acid. The most stabilized shape of the foams is obtained with 5 wt % stearic acid content. The density of EVA/wood-flour foams with 20% wood-flour and 5 wt % stearic acid is 0.11 g/cm3. With increasing content of stearic acid, more gas remains in the EVA matrix and consequently, average cell size and density increase. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014, 131, 40894.

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