Title: Morphological evaluation of ultra low-density poly (methyl methacrylate) microcellular plastic developed through cyclic foaming technique

Authors: G. Radhakrishna; Rupesh Dugad; Abhishek Gandhi; Smita Mohanty; S.K. Nayak

Addresses: CIPET: SARP-APDDRL-Bengaluru, 488-B, 4th Floor, Block-2, KIADB Building, 14th Cross, Peenya 2nd Stage, Bengaluru, 560058, Karnataka, India; CIPET: SARP-LARPM-Bhubaneswar, B-25, CNI Complex, Bhubaneswar, 751024, Odisha, India ' CIPET: SARP-APDDRL-Bengaluru, 488-B, 4th Floor, Block-2, KIADB Building, 14th Cross, Peenya 2nd Stage, Bengaluru, 560058, Karnataka, India; CIPET: SARP-LARPM-Bhubaneswar, B-25, CNI Complex, Bhubaneswar, 751024, Odisha, India ' CIPET: SARP-APDDRL-Bengaluru, 488-B, 4th Floor, Block-2, KIADB Building, 14th Cross, Peenya 2nd Stage, Bengaluru, 560058, Karnataka, India; CIPET: SARP-LARPM-Bhubaneswar, B-25, CNI Complex, Bhubaneswar, 751024, Odisha, India ' CIPET: SARP-APDDRL-Bengaluru, 488-B, 4th Floor, Block-2, KIADB Building, 14th Cross, Peenya 2nd Stage, Bengaluru, 560058, Karnataka, India; CIPET: SARP-LARPM-Bhubaneswar, B-25, CNI Complex, Bhubaneswar, 751024, Odisha, India ' CIPET: SARP-APDDRL-Bengaluru, 488-B, 4th Floor, Block-2, KIADB Building, 14th Cross, Peenya 2nd Stage, Bengaluru, 560058, Karnataka, India; CIPET: SARP-LARPM-Bhubaneswar, B-25, CNI Complex, Bhubaneswar, 751024, Odisha, India

Abstract: In this article, the cyclic microcellular foaming technique has been employed to develop low-density poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) Microcellular foamed composite material. Influence of saturation pressures both at the first as well as at second saturation stage were evaluated for its effect on the morphological attributes as well as on the foam density in the eventual microcellular foamed composites. Further, the cell collapse phenomenon which can be predominant in many conditions were analysed in depth by utilising scanning electron micrographs. With the increase in the saturation pressures at stage 1 of sorption, it was found to reduce the foam density considerably, however, in the second stage, the sorption property got significantly reduced and the overall expansion ratio was also reported to reduce. The average cell size is approximately 150 µm, and the cell size is ranging from 6 µm to 375 µm at various foaming conditions. This study puts forward a new technique to manufacture low-density PMMA microcellular foams and further provide information on steps to control the microstructure by controlling the foaming parameters.

Keywords: microcellular; foam; poly (methyl methacrylate); PMMA; cyclic; cellular polymers.

DOI: 10.1504/IJMATEI.2019.103611

International Journal of Materials Engineering Innovation, 2019 Vol.10 No.4, pp.310 - 332

Received: 09 Feb 2019
Accepted: 26 Apr 2019

Published online: 13 Nov 2019 *

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