Effect of the crystallinity and morphology on the microcellular foam structure of semicrystalline polymers

Microcellular foam processing of polymers requires a nucleated cell density greater than 10(9) cells/cm(3) so that the fully grown cells are smaller than 10 mu m. A microcellular foam can be developed by first saturating a polymer sample with a volatile blowing agent, followed by rapidly decreasing its solubility in the polymer. In general, the cellular structure of semicrystalline polymer foams is difficult to control, compared to that of amorphous polymer foams. Since the gas does not dissolve in the crystallites (1), the polymer/gas solution formed during the microcellular processing is nonuniform. Moreover, the bubble nucleation is nonhomogeneous because of the heterogeneous nature of the semicrystalline polymer. In this paper, the effects of the crystallinity and morphology of semicrystalline polymers on the microcellular foam processing and on the cellular structure of products are investigated. First, polymer specimens with various crystallinities and morphologies were prepared by varying the cooling rate of the polymer melt. Then, the solubility and diffusivity of the blowing agent in and through specimens were studied. The specimens with differing crystallinities and morphologies were foamed and their cellular structures were compared. The experimental results agree with theoretical predictions, indicating that the crystallinity and morphology of semicrystalline polymers exert a strong influence on the foam processing and the structure of the product.