Structural and mechanical impact of synthetic clay in composite foams made via high-internal phase emulsions

Titelangaben

Mayr, Lina ; Simonyan, Arsen ; Breu, Josef ; Wingert, Josef Maxwell:
Structural and mechanical impact of synthetic clay in composite foams made via high-internal phase emulsions.
In: Polymer Composites. Bd. 42 (2021) Heft 1 . - S. 353-361.
ISSN 1548-0569
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/pc.25830

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Abstract

Impacts of organophilic clay on open cell foams created from high-internal phase emulsion templating were explored. Improving mechanical properties such as compression modulus by fillers is typically most challenging to realize. We investigated the effect of two different fillers: synthetic hectorite organophilized with a custom-made organo-cation and commercial organophilic montmorillonite. Contrary to the montmorillonite, the hectorite could significantly improve the foam mechanics, up to four times for foams with a relative density of 4.1%. Investigation of bulk mechanics and the morphology of foams led to the conclusion that the foam mechanics improvement is not due to a reinforcement of the struts. Instead, the organophilic hectorite might act as a Pickering emulsifier in addition to the molecular surfactants to achieve a more consistent structure, which in particular possesses more uniform strut thickness and improved mechanical properties.