Moulded polypropylene foams produced using chemical or physical blowing agents: structure–properties relationship

Polypropylene (PP) foams have become essential items due to their excellent properties. Nevertheless, obtaining net-shaped PP foams with medium relative densities is a complicated issue. In this article, two processes able to produce moulded PP foams in this density range are presented. One of them is based on a modification of the pressure quench foaming method and therefore uses a physical blowing agent (CO2). The second one is the improved compression moulding technique which uses a chemical blowing agent (azodicarbonamide). PP foams with relative densities in the range between 0.25 and 0.6 and cylindrical shape were prepared using these foaming techniques. A common PP grade (instead a highly branched one) was used to obtain the samples, showing, that by combining the appropriate foaming technique, the adequate moulds, suitable blowing agent and proper foaming parameters, net-shaped PP foams with excellent properties can be produced starting from a conventional PP grade. Samples were characterized by analyzing their cellular structure and their mechanical properties. Results have showed that depending on the chosen foaming route isotropic or anisotropic structures with cell sizes ranging from 40 to 350 lm and open cell content in the range between 0 and 65% can be obtained. Moreover, mechanical properties are highly influenced by the production route and chemical composition of the foams. For instance, the stiffer materials at relative densities higher than 0.4 are the ones produced using the chemical blowing agent while at relative densities lower than 0.4 are the ones produced using the physical blowing agent.