Polymer nanocomposite foams

Nano-sized particles such as nano-clays can be mixed with polymers through either melt compounding or in-situ polymerization. By modifying the particle surface with various surfactants and controlling processing conditions, we are able to achieve either intercalated (partial dispersion) or exfoliate...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors LEE L. JAMES, ZENG CHANGCHUN, HAN XIANGMIN, KOELLING KURT W, TOMASKO DAVID L
Format Patent
LanguageEnglish
Published 11.04.2006
Subjects
AFTER-TREATMENT NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASSES C08B, C08C, C08F,C08G
ARTIFICIAL STONE
CEMENTS
CERAMICS
CHEMISTRY
COMPOSITIONS BASED THEREON
COMPOSITIONS THEREOF, e.g. MORTARS, CONCRETE OR LIKE BUILDINGMATERIALS
CONCRETE
GENERAL PROCESSES OF COMPOUNDING
LIME, MAGNESIA
METALLURGY
ORGANIC MACROMOLECULAR COMPOUNDS
REFRACTORIES
SLAG
THEIR PREPARATION OR CHEMICAL WORKING-UP
TREATMENT OF NATURAL STONE
WORKING-UP
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Summary:Nano-sized particles such as nano-clays can be mixed with polymers through either melt compounding or in-situ polymerization. By modifying the particle surface with various surfactants and controlling processing conditions, we are able to achieve either intercalated (partial dispersion) or exfoliated (full dispersion) nano-clay distribution in polymers with the clay content up to 35% by weight. When a blowing agent is injected into the nanocomposite in an extruder (a continuous mixer) or a batch mixer, polymeric foam can be produced. Supercritical carbon dioxide, an environmentally friendly, low-cost, non-flammable, chemically benign gas is used as the blowing agent. This process forms a microcellular foam with very high cell density (>109 cells/cc) and small cell size (<5 microns) can be achieved by controlling the CO2 content, melt and die temperature, and pressure drop rate.
Bibliography:Application Number: US20040849599