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Polymer Congress 2018
Polymer Sciences
ISSN: 2471-9935
Page 24
June 04-05, 2018
London, UK
4
th
Edition of International Conference on
Polymer Science and
Technology
N
owadays the number of polymers produced from renewable
resources are increasing considerably. Global market
forecasts predict a fourfold increase until 2019 (7.8 million
ton/year). Polymer foams nowadays are mostly produced from
petroleum-based petrochemical materials. Foamed products,
such as packaging and insulating materials, are made by
physical, chemical and bead foaming techniques. A great
disadvantage of materials and products made from them is that
they are difficult and costly to recycle, cannot be decomposed
biologically and are a considerable load on the environment
after they lose their function. Renewable resource-based and
biodegradable polymers offer an environmentally friendly
alternative. Of all biopolymers, poly(lactic acid) (PLA) receives
the most attention nowadays. It is a thermoplastic polyester
which can be produced entirely from agricultural sources, e.g.
sugarcane, and is biodegradable by composting. PLA in itself
is rigid (Young’s modulus: ~2500 MPa), breaks easily (Charpy
impact strength: ~4 kJ/m2) and has low strain at break (~3%).
Its D-lactide content and functional additives can greatly
influence its properties. The comprehensive characterization
of its chemical foaming and the bio-foam produced this way
is a new direction of research. PLA can be used to develop
biopolymer foam products that can be a viable alternative to
single-use non-biodegradable foam products, such as food
industry trays and padding foams. The lecture presents the
effects of various kinds (e.g. exothermic) of chemical foaming
agents on the morphological and mechanical properties of
PLA foam. We used PLAs with different D-lactide contents.
The PLA foams were manufactured with a twin-screw extruder.
We produced rod-shaped foam specimens. The chemical
foaming agents and the PLA foams made with them were
tested morphologically (e.g. Differential Scanning Calorimetry)
and mechanically (e.g. foam strength). The cell structure was
characterized by scanning electron microscopy.
Recent Publications
1. Nova Institute: Bio-based Building Blocks and
Polymers in the World. Michael Carus. Page 1-24.
2. Auras R et al. (2010) Poly(lactic acid). synthesis,
structures, properties, processing and application.
Wiley. ISBN:978-0-470-29366-9.
3. Julien J M et al. (2015) Chemical foaming extrusion
of poly(lactic acid) with chain-extenders: physical and
morphological characterizations. European Polymer
Journal. 67:40-49.
4. Zimmermann V G M et al. (2017) Poly(lactic acid)
foams reinforced with cellulose micro and nanofibers
and foamed by chemical blowing agents. Journal of
Cellural Plastics.
5. Göttermann S et al. (2016) Modified standard
polylactic acid (PLA) for extrusion foaming. AIP
Conference Proceedings. 1779: 060001.
Biography
Akos Kmetty is working in Research Group for Composite Science and
Technology, Hungary. His research interests are development of self-rein-
forced petroleum-based and bio-based polymer composites and the anal-
ysis of renewable resource-based polymer materials and composites. He
works as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Polymer Engineering,
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Budapest University of Technology and
Economics, Hungry. In 2012 he joined the MTA–BME Research Group for
Composite Science andTechnology as a Research Fellow. His work focuses
on the production and characterization of bio-polyester-based foams pro-
duced by extrusion techniques via chemical and physical blowing methods.
His research activities include the analysis of the morphological and me-
chanical properties of bio-polymer foams and he is examining the relation-
ships between the manufacturing parameters and material properties.
kmetty@pt.bme.huCharacterization of poly(lactic acid) foams produced by
extrusion with different chemical blowing agents
Akos Kmetty
1,2
and
Katalin Litauszki
1
1
Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary.
2
MTA–BME Research Group for Composite Science and Technology, Hungary
Akos Kmetty et al., Polym Sci 2018, Volume 4
DOI: 10.4172/2471-9935-C2-011