Modeling of Two‐Step Supercritical CO2 Foaming to Fabricate Poly(ε‐caprolactone) Scaffolds

• Published in: Chemical engineering & technology Vol. 44; no. 7; pp. 1233 - 1240
• Main Authors: Hatami, Tahmasb, Mei, Lucia Helena Innocentini, Shabanian, Seyed Reza
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frankfurt Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.07.2021
• Subjects: Carbon dioxide; Conservation; Foaming; Mathematical modeling; Mathematical models; Model accuracy; Polycaprolactone; Pressure reduction; Scaffolds; Shells; Solubilization; Supercritical CO2 foaming; Two‐step depressurization
• ISSN: 0930-7516; 1521-4125
• DOI: 10.1002/ceat.202100006

A mathematical model was developed based on the Amon and Denson model for supercritical foaming (SCF) with a two‐step depressurization rate. The model was provided according to the law of conservation of momentum, the law of conservation of mass, and a reformulation of the shell size for the second step of depressurization in comparison with the shell size for the first step of depressurization. The model was validated using the experimental data of SCF from polycaprolactone plus CO2 at 300 bar, 50 °C, a solubilization time of 2 h, a first depressurization rate of 28.6 bar min−1, and a second depressurization rate of 200 bar min−1. The comparison showed a significant improvement of the model accuracy for predicting the average pore radius of the scaffold compared to the original Amon and Denson model. A mathematical model was developed for supercritical CO2 foaming with a two‐step depressurization rate. The main feature of the model is its capability of calculating both the small and big pore sizes with low computational cost and high accuracy.