Thermal decomposition kinetics of titanium hydride and Al alloy melt foaming process

Metal foams, now one of research foci, are a newclass of materials with low densities and novel physi-cal, mechanical, thermal, electrical and acoustic prop-erties[1—8]. Demands from high-tech make Al alloyfoam, which has much higher specific strength than ofpure Al foam, the new development focus[9—11]. Melt foaming process is one of the approaches tofabricate Al foam and Al alloy foam and their porestructure (pore diameter and porosity) has close rela-tionship with the thermal decompo…     

The effect of interfacial miscibility on the cell morphology of polyethylene terephthalate/bisphenol a polycarbonate blend foams

Annealing polyethylene terephthalate (PET)/polycarbonate (PC) blends enhance the transesterification reaction and increase the amount of copolymer at the interface of both polymers. The copolymer enhances the compatibility of PET with PC, because it contains both PET and PC blocks, which causes the interface between PET and PC to become fuzzy. When the PET/PC undergoes batch physical foaming with CO₂, the copolymer significantly changes the resulting cell morphology, that is, the annealing time. Before annealing or in the absence of the copolymer, bubble nucleation occurs and dominates growth at the interface. When the PET/PC blends are annealed, the interface impedes bubble nucleation and growth. The polymer is stretched at the interface by bubble growth, forming fibril‐like structures connecting two polymer domains at the interface. Increased annealing time causes the interface to become more homogeneous and makes heterogeneous bubble nucleation difficult. At higher copolymer concentrations, the interface of PET and PC becomes fuzzy and the cell morphology becomes like those of foamed homogeneous polymers. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2012     

Statistical and experimental investigation on low density microcellular foaming of PLA-TPU/cellulose nano-fiber bio-nanocomposites

This study dedicates to foaming of biocompatible blends of polylactic acid and thermoplastic polyurethane reinforced with bio-degradable cellulose nanofibers. This research primarily was associated with fabrication of PLA-TPU nanocomposites using a low weight fraction of cellulose nanofibers as a biodegradable reinforcement. Microstructural and mechanical properties of fabricated nanocomposites were examined and diffractometry was utilized to verify formation of percolated nanocomposites. Microcellular foaming was then performed with CO₂ as a blowing agent. Central composite design was applied in designing the experiments to evaluate the effects of main operating variables consisting of saturation pressure and time, heating time and foaming temperature. The results demonstrated that high saturation pressure and time promoted low cell diameters (below 5 μm) and high cell densities (above 10⁹ cell/cm³) due to the grown degree of crystallinity and higher PLA-TPU miscibility. Accordingly, adding TPU and CNF to the matrix create high crystalline foamed samples decorated with low bulk density.     

Some effects of foaming of the poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) modified by electron radiation

Investigation of the effect of electron radiation and foaming agent on some properties of poly(butylene adipate‐co‐terephthalate) (PBAT) was the aim of the present paper. The mass flow rate, weight‐average molecular weight of irradiated PBAT as well as the morphological structure of foamed samples, their density, tensile strength, and specific strength were determined. It was found that irradiation of PBAT induces growth in weight‐average molecular weight and decrease in mass flow rate, and as a consequence of this increase in viscosity of this polymer. It was also found that foaming of irradiated PBAT causes formation of homogeneous cellular structure or structure with a clear separation of large and small cells. Simultaneously, the irradiated and foamed PBAT shows smaller density than that of non‐irradiated and foamed PBAT. Moreover, electron radiation does not influence tensile strength of the foamed PBAT; however, it increases its specific strength, although only if the content of foaming agent is 1 wt%.     

The Influences of Polymers and Temperature on the Foam Properties of 3‐Dodecylalkoxyl‐2‐hydroxylpropyl Trimethylammonium Chloride

The foam performances of 3‐dodecoxy‐2‐hydroxypropyl trimethylammonium chloride (C₁₂TAC) have been determined in the existence of different relative amount of polymer. The experimental results show that the foaming ability of the mixture systems of the C₁₂TAC/PEG and C₁₂TAC/PVP is stronger than that of the surfactant solutions in the absence of polymer, and with the increase of relative amount of polymer both foaming efficiency and foam stability of the surfactant solutions are evidently enhanced. For the aqueous solution of the surfactant, effect of temperature on foaming properties has also been examined. The results show that both the foaming ability and stability of the foams of the surfactant solutions are highest (or strongest) at 30°C.     

The Impact of Foaming Effect on the Physical and Mechanical Properties of Foam Glasses with Molecular-Level Insights

Foaming effect strongly impacts the physical and mechanical properties of foam glass materials, but an understanding of its mechanism especially at the molecular level is still limited. In this study, the foaming effects of dextrin, a mixture of dextrin and carbon, and different carbon allotropes are investigated with respect to surface morphology as well as physical and mechanical properties, in which 1 wt.% carbon black is identified as an optimal choice for a well-balanced material property. More importantly, the different foaming effects are elucidated by all-atomistic molecular dynamics simulations with molecular-level insights into the structure–property relationships. The results show that smaller pores and more uniform pore structure benefit the mechanical properties of the foam glass samples. The foam glass samples show excellent chemical and thermal stability with 1 wt.% carbon as the foaming agent. Furthermore, the foaming effects of CaSO₄ and Na₂HPO₄ are investigated, which both create more uniform pore structures. This work may inspire more systematic approaches to control foaming effect for customized engineering needs by establishing molecular-level structure–property–process relationships, thereby, leading to efficient production of foam glass materials with desired foaming effects.     

系列磺丁基甜菜碱的表征及表面活性

用FT-IR、1H NMR和元素分析对自制的3种磺丁基甜菜碱(SBm-4)的结构进行了表征,研究了它们的表面性能、泡沫性能和乳化性能。 获得SB12-4的cmc为2.20×10-3 mol/L,γcmc为31.48 mN/m;SB14-4的cmc为2.80×10-4 mol/L,γcmc为29.68 mN/m;SB16-4的cmc为2.30×10-5 mol/L,γcmc为32.06 mN/m。 3种磺丁基甜菜碱的cmc值随着烷基链长增加逐渐减小,γcmc先减小后增加,三者的起泡性随浓度增加而增加,到一定值后保持不变;泡沫稳定性随浓度增加逐渐增强,起泡性随着温度的增加有缓慢增加趋势,泡沫稳定性随温度增加逐渐降低。 3种表面活性剂的乳化能力随浓度增加先增加后降低。     

The influence of the pore size, the foaming temperature and the viscosity of the continuous phase on the properties of foams produced by membrane foaming

Membrane foaming is a new method of foaming. To enlarge the knowledge about the influencing factors and to know how to vary the structure of the resulting foam, different factors were evaluated. A whey protein solution with 10% protein was foamed as a model solution by means of a tubular cross-flow filtration membrane. The pore size of the membrane was varied. The smaller the pore size, the smaller the bubbles produced. As a result, the foam firmness increases and less drainage was observed when smaller pore sizes were applied.

An important factor is that the added amount of gas must be stabilised as completely as possible in the foam. In order to achieve this, both the process and the product parameters were varied. Raising the foaming temperature increased the quantity of stabilised gas. The whey proteins then diffuse faster to the bubble surfaces and stabilise these by unfolding and networking reactions to prevent the coalescence of the bubbles.

The product parameter viscosity was found to influence the foaming result in such a way that up to a viscosity of 40 mPa s the incorporated gas bubbles are stabilised by the higher viscosity. At viscosities higher than 40 mPa s it is difficult to incorporate in the bubbles, and the foam structure becomes coarser due to increased coalescence at the pores of the membrane. The foam stability is enhanced with higher viscosities.     

Influence of alkyl chain length of alpha olefin sulfonates on surface and interfacial properties

Alpha olefin sulfonates (AOS) with various alkyl chain lengths have been used to investigate the influence of alkyl chain length on the interfacial properties at air–water, liquid paraffin–water, and parafilm–water interfaces. It was found that the critical micelle concentration decreased with increasing alkyl chain length, while the efficiency of reducing surface tension was inverse relationship with alkyl chain length. The diffusion coefficient obviously reduced with an increase of surfactant concentration and alkyl chain length. The C_14-16AOS shows better wettability and emulsification than C_16-18AOS and C_20-24AOS. For foaming properties, the foamability and foam stability dramatically decreased with increasing alkyl chain length.