Enhancing cell nucleation of thermoplastic polyolefin foam blown with nitrogen

More than ever before, thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) is actively used for interior and exterior applications in the automotive industry. Foamed TPO parts use far less material than their solid counterparts and, thereby, reduce material cost, weight, and fuel usage. However, foamed TPO is not yet in mainstream use because the appropriate foaming technology is not yet well developed. The literature reports the use of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a blowing agent for TPO;1–3 there is, however, little research on the use of nitrogen (N2) as a blowing agent, despite nitrogen's numerous advantages. In this study, various talc contents were added to a TPO matrix consisting of polypropylene blended with a metallocene-based polyolefin elastomer. The effect of talc on the TPO foams blown with N2 was studied with a batch foaming simulation system. The simulated results were compared actual foam extrusion results. The influence of the N2 content and processing conditions on the cell nucleation behavior is discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010

[1]  Chul B. Park,et al.  Reducing Material Costs with Microcellular/Fine-celled Foaming , 2007 .

[2]  Chul B. Park,et al.  Solubility measurements of N2 and CO2 in polypropylene and ethene/octene copolymer , 2007 .

[3]  Chul B. Park,et al.  Use of Nitrogen as a Blowing Agent for the Production of Fine-Celled High-Density Polyethylene Foams† , 2006 .

[4]  Chul B. Park,et al.  A Microcellular Foaming Simulation System with a High Pressure-Drop Rate , 2006 .

[5]  A. Pramanick,et al.  Application of the “Theory of Mixtures” to Temperature – Stress Equivalency in Nonlinear Creep of Thermoplastic/Agro-fibre Composites , 2006 .

[6]  Chul B. Park,et al.  Numerical simulation of polymeric foaming processes using modified nucleation theory , 2006 .

[7]  S. Kim,et al.  Foamability of Thermoplastic Vulcanizates (TPVs) with Carbon Dioxide and Nitrogen , 2006 .

[8]  L. Nicolais,et al.  Structure optimization of polycaprolactone foams by using mixtures of CO2 and N2 as blowing agents , 2005 .

[9]  Chul B. Park,et al.  Challenge to Extrusion of Low-Density Microcellular Polycarbonate Foams Using Supercritical Carbon Dioxide , 2005 .

[10]  M. Okamoto,et al.  Visual observation of CO2 foaming of polypropylene‐clay nanocomposites , 2004 .

[11]  Chul B. Park,et al.  Fundamental foaming mechanisms governing the volume expansion of extruded polypropylene foams , 2004 .

[12]  Chul B. Park,et al.  Effects of die geometry on cell nucleation of PS foams blown with CO2 , 2003 .

[13]  Takashi Nakayama,et al.  Visual Observations of Batch and Continuous Foaming Processes , 2003 .

[14]  Th. C. Yu.  Mentallocane plastomer modification of polypropylenes , 2001 .

[15]  Chul B. Park,et al.  Challenge to fortyfold expansion of biodegradable polyester foams by using carbon dioxide as a blowing agent , 2000 .

[16]  Chul B. Park,et al.  The effect of talc on cell nucleation in extrusion foam processing of polypropylene with CO2 and isopentane , 1998 .

[17]  Chul B. Park,et al.  A study of cell nucleation in the extrusion of polypropylene foams , 1997 .

[18]  Chul B. Park,et al.  Filamentary extrusion of microcellular polymers using a rapid decompressive element , 1996 .

[19]  Chul B. Park,et al.  Effect of the pressure drop rate on cell nucleation in continuous processing of microcellular polymers , 1995 .

[20]  Shau‐Tarng Lee,et al.  Shear effects on thermoplastic foam nucleation , 1993 .

[21]  M. Sain,et al.  Contribution to heterogeneity in elasto-plastic blends , 1989 .

[22]  C. Han,et al.  A study of bubble nucleation in a mixture of molten polymer and volatile liquid in a shear flow field , 1988 .

[23]  Jonathan S. Colton,et al.  The nucleation of microcellular thermoplastic foam with additives: Part I: Theoretical considerations , 1987 .