• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.227-235
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• 2000

This study focused on the recycling technology and application of waste polyurethane scrap($5{\sim}7mm$) and waste urethane form from the footware scrap. Firstly we suggest the waste polyurethane can be used as a component of medium for hydroponic rose culture. Secondly, recycled thermoplastic polyurethane(RTPU) was produced and blended it with high impact polystyrene(HIPS). And also, in order to extend application of recycling field, the former was produced with adding the amine foaming agent to RTPU/HIPS alloy. The main purpose of this study is to diverse of the recycling of the waste polyurethane.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.297-309
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• 2012

Different amounts of foaming agents were employed in natural rubber(NR)/butadiene rubber(BR) blends to understand the foaming behavior in presence of nano-reinforcing agent, zinc methacrylate (ZMA). The ZMA greatly improved most of the mechanical properties of the rubber foams, however it did not show considerable effect on the cell morphology, such as cell size, density and porosity. It was also observed that the foaming agent concentration affected all the mechanical parameters. When the content of foaming agent was increased, the number of foams was increased leading to a decrease in density of the compounds. But the size and distribution of foams remained unchanged with increased foaming agent. The effect of high styrene-butadiene rubber (HSBR) was also studied. The size of cells became smaller and the cell uniformity was improved with increasing HSBR. The foam rubber compounds showed much efficient energy absorbing capability at higher strains.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.676-681
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• 2007

A process designed to synthesize rigid polyurethane foam (PUF) with insulative properties via the modulation of PUF cell size via the addition of clay and the application of ultrasound was assessed. The blowing agents utilized in this study include water, cyclopentane, and HFC-365mfc, all of which are known to be environmentally-friendly blowing agents. The rigid PUFs were prepared from polymeric 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (PMDI) and polyether polyol with a density of $50kg/m^3$. In addition, rigid PUFs/clay nanocomposites were synthesized with clay modified by PMDI with and without the application of ultrasound. The PUF generated using water as a blowing agent evidenced the highest tensile strength. The tensile strength of the PUF/nanocomposites was higher than that of the neat PUF and the strength was even higher with the application of ultrasound. The cell size of the PUF/clay nanocomposites was less than that of the neat PUF, regardless of the type of blowing agent utilized. It appears that the higher tensile strength and lower cell size of the PUF/clay nanocomposites may be attributable to the uniform dispersion of the clay via ultrasonic agitation. The thermal conductivity of the PUF/clay nanocomposites generated with HCFC-141b evidenced the lowest value when PUF/clay nanocomposites were compared with other blowing agents, including HFC-365mfc, cyclopentane, and water. Ultrasound has also proven effective with regard to the reduction of the thermal conductivity of the PUF/clay nanocomposites with any of the blowing agents employed in this study. It has also been suggested that the uniformly dispersed clay particles in the PUF matrix function as diffusion barriers, which prevent the amelioration of the thermal insulation property.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.340-348
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• 2003

A previous stud-pull test was modified to measure the bond strength of polyurethane foam to carbon steel substrate. This test was appropriate in that the specimen foamed on Zn phosphated steel (0.95 kN) was broken at higher load than that of smooth galvanizing treated steel (0.38 kN). Among the samples foamed on the substrate atvarious preheating temperatures, the polyurethane foam to the steel held over 60$^{\circ}C$ exhibited very high bond strength. The samples were exposed at water vapor absorption, and, then, their bond strengths were measured. The adhesion was significantly reduced in the samples foamed on the steel at temperatures below 40$^{\circ}C$ and above 70$^{\circ}C$. For the polyurethane foams formulated with two blowing gases, the adhesion was higher by 0.03 kN in the samples with HCFC-l4lb than that with HFC-245fa. When the these samples were exposed at water vapor soaking, the reduction of the bond strength for the HFC-245fa blown sample was negligible due to smaller area fraction of void area filled with gas at interfacial area. Consequently, it was found that adhesion of polyurethane foam to metal substrate was determined by variation of microstructural features with substrate preheating, surface treatment type of blowing agent.

• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.63-72
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• 2024

Poly (butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) is one of the representative biodegradable polymers with high ductility and processability to replace petroleum-based polymers. Many investigations have been conducted to broaden the applications of PBAT in a variety of industries, including the food packaging, agricultural mulching film, and logistics and distribution fields. Foaming process is widely known technique to generate the cell structure within the polymer matrix, offering the insulation and light weight properties. However, there was no commercially feasible foam product based on biodegradable polymers, especially PBAT, and maintaining a proper melt viscosity of the polymer would be a key parameter for the foaming process. In this study, chemical foaming agent and cross-linking agent were introduced to PBAT, and a compression molding process was applied to prepare a foam sheet. The correlation between cell morphological structures and mechanical and physical properties was evaluated. It was found that PBAT with foam structures effectively reduced the density and thermal conductivity, allowing them to be suitable for applications such as insulation and lightweight packaging or cushion materials.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.64-70
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• 2015

Thermally expandable microcapsules (TEMs) can be expanded upon heating since the activation energy of liquid hydrocarbon at the core of the TEMs increased at high temperature. Due to this property, TEMs are widely used in the industry as blowing agents or light-weight fillers. In this article, chemical blowing agent and TEM were used for making polypropylene (PP) foams, and their mechanical properties were compared. Physical properties (tensile strength, impact strength etc.) of PP foams decreased with increasing the amount of blowing agents while weight of specimen decreased. However, PP foam produced with TEMs showed higher impact strength than the one with a chemical blowing agent. In order to figure out the difference of impact strength, the morphology of PP foamed was investigated. Expanding properties of TEM can be controlled by changing core back distance.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.605-612
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• 2005

This study investigates the isothermal crystallization behaviors of polypropylene-polyethylene-(1-butene) terpolymer and the adiabatically expanded polyolefin structured foams. For this purpose, butane gas was used as a physical blowing agent. Avrami equation has been used to interpret theoretically the experimental results obtained by either DSC or polarized optical microscope. It is believed that elongation induced crystallization occurring during the adiabatic expansion process has resulted in an increase in crystallization rate, eventually leading to a faster growth rate of spherulites and an increase in the nucleation density. An analysis of the foam by SEM images showed that the structure of foam is uniform (below diameter 30 $\mu$m closed cell) In addition, the thermal conductivity and the compressive strength of the polyolefin structured foams was measured. The thermal conductivity of foamed resin with excellent insulation characteristics is reduced compared with unfoamed resin. The compressive strength is decreased with increase in the expansion ratio.

• Composites Research
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.297-302
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• 2023

There are several methods for shaping foams, but the most commonly used methods involve the use of resin mixed with a foaming agent, which is then foamed under high temperature and pressure in the case of compression foaming, or foamed under high temperature without applying pressure in the case of atmospheric foaming. The polymers used for foaming require design and analysis of optimal foaming conditions in order to achieve foaming under ambient pressure. Environmentally friendly bio-based polymers face challenges when it comes to foaming on their own, which has led to ongoing research in blending them with resins capable of traditional foam production. This study investigates changes in the characteristics of bio-based polymer-EVA blend foams based on variations in the content of bio-based polymers and explores the optimal foaming conditions according to crosslinking. The correlation between foaming characteristics and mechanical properties of the foams was examined. Through this research, we gained insights into how the content of bio-based polymers affects the properties of foams containing bio-based polymers and identified differences between ambient pressure and high-pressure foaming processes. Additionally, the feasibility of commercializing bio-based polymer-EVA composite foams was confirmed.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.441-448
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• 2014

Polyurethane/melamine phosphate composite foam (MP-PUF) was prepared from poly(adipate)diol/melamine phosphate composite (f=2), polyether-polyol (f=4.6), and PMDI (f=2.5). The thermal properties of MP-PUF such as morphology, closed-cell content, thermal conductivity, and thermal stabilities were characterized. Water was used as a blowing agent, and the composition of melamine phosphate (MP) was maintained at $1.43{\pm}0.3wt%$ of MP-PUF. As the content of water increased, the thermal conductivity of pure polyurethane foam (PUF) decreased, whereas the thermal conductivity of MP-PUF increased. The thermal stabilities of the PUF and the MP-PUF were maximized at 5 php $H_2O$, and then decreased at the higher $H_2O$ contents. The thermal stabilities of MP-PUF were greatly enhanced due to the synergetic effect of MP and urea, which was generated during the blowing process. The temperature of 50% residual mass of MP-PUF increased to $370{\sim}450^{\circ}C$ and the temperature of 30% residual mass exceeded over $700^{\circ}C$. Compared to the PUF, the temperature of 50% residual mass and 30% residual mass were higher than 25 and $70^{\circ}C$, respectively.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.210-218
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• 2015

The reaction behavior of rigid polyurethane foams were studied on the effects of gelling catalysts of amine type, such as; dimethylcyclohexyl amine (DMCHA) and of potassium type, such as; potassium octoate (PO). Rigid polyurethane foams were provided with polymeric 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate, polyester polyol, silicone surfactant, blowing agent and a few gelling catalysts. As the contents of catalyst, DMCHA increased from 0 to 2.0 g, the reaction time decreased from ca. 330 to ca. 35 sec and due to the exothermic reaction, the maximum temperature increased from ca. 217 to ca. $234^{\circ}C$, respectively. As the contents of PO increased from 0 to 2.5 g, the reaction time decreased from ca. 79 to ca. 38 sec and the maximum temperature increased from ca. 182 to ca. $271^{\circ}C$, respectively. The kinetic parameters were calculated and the conversions were based on the temperature rising method of adiabatic process. As the content of DMCHA increased, the rate constant $k_0$ increased. But in the case of PO catalyst, $k_0$ did hardly depend upon its amount, and showed us similar reaction rate constants.