Effect of gas saturation conditions on the expansion ratio of microcellular poly(lactic acid)/wood-flour composites

Poly(lactic acid) or PLA and PLA/wood-flour composites were microcellular foamed with CO2 through a batch foaming process. Specifically, the gas saturation pressure and time varied during processing to produce PLA foams with a high expansion ratio. A ten fold expansion ratio resulted in microcellula...

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Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Budapest University of Technology and Economics 2010-10-01
Series:eXPRESS Polymer Letters
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Online Access:http://www.expresspolymlett.com/letolt.php?file=EPL-0001615&mi=cd
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collection DOAJ
description Poly(lactic acid) or PLA and PLA/wood-flour composites were microcellular foamed with CO2 through a batch foaming process. Specifically, the gas saturation pressure and time varied during processing to produce PLA foams with a high expansion ratio. A ten fold expansion ratio resulted in microcellular foamed PLA over unfoamed counterpart. The foaming conditions associated with such a high expansion ratio involved a lower gas saturation pressure up to 2.76 MPa, which corresponds to a critical gas concentration of approximately 9.4%. Beyond this critical value, foam expansion decreased significantly. Investigations also studied the effect of incorporating wood flour on the foamability of the resulting PLA/wood-flour composites. The addition of wood flour into the PLA matrix significantly affected the expansion ratio of PLA/wood-flour composite foams.
format Article
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issn 1788-618X
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publishDate 2010-10-01
publisher Budapest University of Technology and Economics
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series eXPRESS Polymer Letters
spelling doaj-art-c335eb26cf344d19986a1d33d18a595b2025-08-20T03:20:30ZengBudapest University of Technology and EconomicseXPRESS Polymer Letters1788-618X2010-10-0141062163110.3144/expresspolymlett.2010.77Effect of gas saturation conditions on the expansion ratio of microcellular poly(lactic acid)/wood-flour compositesPoly(lactic acid) or PLA and PLA/wood-flour composites were microcellular foamed with CO2 through a batch foaming process. Specifically, the gas saturation pressure and time varied during processing to produce PLA foams with a high expansion ratio. A ten fold expansion ratio resulted in microcellular foamed PLA over unfoamed counterpart. The foaming conditions associated with such a high expansion ratio involved a lower gas saturation pressure up to 2.76 MPa, which corresponds to a critical gas concentration of approximately 9.4%. Beyond this critical value, foam expansion decreased significantly. Investigations also studied the effect of incorporating wood flour on the foamability of the resulting PLA/wood-flour composites. The addition of wood flour into the PLA matrix significantly affected the expansion ratio of PLA/wood-flour composite foams.http://www.expresspolymlett.com/letolt.php?file=EPL-0001615&mi=cdBiopolymers, biocompositesMicrocellular foamWood plastic compositesCell morphology
spellingShingle Effect of gas saturation conditions on the expansion ratio of microcellular poly(lactic acid)/wood-flour composites
eXPRESS Polymer Letters
Biopolymers, biocomposites
Microcellular foam
Wood plastic composites
Cell morphology
title Effect of gas saturation conditions on the expansion ratio of microcellular poly(lactic acid)/wood-flour composites
title_full Effect of gas saturation conditions on the expansion ratio of microcellular poly(lactic acid)/wood-flour composites
title_fullStr Effect of gas saturation conditions on the expansion ratio of microcellular poly(lactic acid)/wood-flour composites
title_full_unstemmed Effect of gas saturation conditions on the expansion ratio of microcellular poly(lactic acid)/wood-flour composites
title_short Effect of gas saturation conditions on the expansion ratio of microcellular poly(lactic acid)/wood-flour composites
title_sort effect of gas saturation conditions on the expansion ratio of microcellular poly lactic acid wood flour composites
topic Biopolymers, biocomposites
Microcellular foam
Wood plastic composites
Cell morphology
url http://www.expresspolymlett.com/letolt.php?file=EPL-0001615&mi=cd