Evaluation of the potential of polybutylene terephthalate/Poly(phenylene oxide) blends for bead foam production

Titelangaben

Standau, Tobias ; Lindner, Kathrin ; Altstädt, Volker ; Ruckdäschel, Holger:
Evaluation of the potential of polybutylene terephthalate/Poly(phenylene oxide) blends for bead foam production.
In: AIP Conference Proceedings. Bd. 3158 (2024) . - 050001.
ISSN 0094-243X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0204862

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Abstract

An attempt to achieve bead foams that possess a higher thermal stability as well as an intrinsic flame retardancy is the use of suitable engineering polymers, such as the combination of polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and poly(phenylene oxide) (PPE). However, both materials are very challenging to process – especially in the continuous foam extrusion coupled with an underwater granulator to obtain bead foams. In the recent study we show how the PBT/PPE blend morphology is affected by the PPE content and an epoxy-based chain extender (CE). Also, the morphologies of the bead foams with different blend compositions are shown. Stable processing was possible up to a PPE content of 10 wt.-%. The crystallization behavior changes by the addition of PPE and the lowest bulk density for the foamed beads was 130 kg/m3. This study aims to understand the melt behavior of PBT/PPE blends and to evaluate its potential for bead foam application in a continuous process. By using an epoxy-based chain extender the blend morphology can be influenced and a fine and homogeneous distribution of PPE in PBT can be achieved. The beads could be fused steamless with the rather novel radiofrequency technology. Trials with a cone calorimeter revealed a lesser (peak) heat release when burning compared to bead foams made from expanded polypropylene (EPP).