High-Performance PLA Foam Blocks Prepared From Beads Modified by Chain Extension and Heterogeneous Nucleation
Jiaxun Li
Key Laboratory of Advanced Catalytic Materials and Technology, Advanced Catalysis and Green Manufacturing Collaborative Innovation Center, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China
Contribution: Conceptualization (lead), Data curation (lead), Formal analysis (lead), Software (lead), Writing - original draft (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Jing Zhang
Key Laboratory of Advanced Catalytic Materials and Technology, Advanced Catalysis and Green Manufacturing Collaborative Innovation Center, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China
Correspondence:
Jing Zhang ([email protected])
Contribution: Methodology (lead), Project administration (equal), Supervision (equal), Validation (equal), Writing - review & editing (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorLiang Xu
Key Laboratory of Advanced Catalytic Materials and Technology, Advanced Catalysis and Green Manufacturing Collaborative Innovation Center, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China
Contribution: Methodology (equal), Project administration (equal), Resources (equal), Supervision (lead), Validation (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorJunfeng Qian
Key Laboratory of Advanced Catalytic Materials and Technology, Advanced Catalysis and Green Manufacturing Collaborative Innovation Center, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China
Contribution: Investigation (equal), Resources (equal), Validation (equal)
Search for more papers by this authorMingyang He
Key Laboratory of Advanced Catalytic Materials and Technology, Advanced Catalysis and Green Manufacturing Collaborative Innovation Center, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China
Contribution: Funding acquisition (lead), Project administration (lead), Supervision (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorJiaxun Li
Key Laboratory of Advanced Catalytic Materials and Technology, Advanced Catalysis and Green Manufacturing Collaborative Innovation Center, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China
Contribution: Conceptualization (lead), Data curation (lead), Formal analysis (lead), Software (lead), Writing - original draft (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Jing Zhang
Key Laboratory of Advanced Catalytic Materials and Technology, Advanced Catalysis and Green Manufacturing Collaborative Innovation Center, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China
Correspondence:
Jing Zhang ([email protected])
Contribution: Methodology (lead), Project administration (equal), Supervision (equal), Validation (equal), Writing - review & editing (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorLiang Xu
Key Laboratory of Advanced Catalytic Materials and Technology, Advanced Catalysis and Green Manufacturing Collaborative Innovation Center, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China
Contribution: Methodology (equal), Project administration (equal), Resources (equal), Supervision (lead), Validation (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorJunfeng Qian
Key Laboratory of Advanced Catalytic Materials and Technology, Advanced Catalysis and Green Manufacturing Collaborative Innovation Center, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China
Contribution: Investigation (equal), Resources (equal), Validation (equal)
Search for more papers by this authorMingyang He
Key Laboratory of Advanced Catalytic Materials and Technology, Advanced Catalysis and Green Manufacturing Collaborative Innovation Center, Changzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China
Contribution: Funding acquisition (lead), Project administration (lead), Supervision (lead)
Search for more papers by this authorFunding: This study was supported by the Advanced Catalysis and Green Manufacturing Collaborative Innovation Center, Changzhou University, Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions and Jiangsu Provincial Key Laboratory of Advanced Catalytic Materials and Technology Department, Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology.
ABSTRACT
Supercritical CO₂ foaming effectively forms a uniform cellular structure in polylactic acid (PLA) beads by utilizing the high diffusion rate and solubility of CO₂ in polymers. In this study, PLA beads are modified with a chain extender (CE) composed of ethylene and glycidyl methacrylate, while thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) serves as a heterogeneous nucleating agent. After being foamed with supercritical CO, the modified PLA beads are compression molded into foam blocks. The volume expansion ratio of PLA/TPU/CE foams increases by 12.5-fold, and the resulting foam blocks exhibit a high compressive modulus of 21 MPa. The enhanced compressive strength results from the synergistic effects of chain extension and heterogeneous nucleation, which enhance the material's cellular structure and internal crosslinking. This study offers an effective strategy to enhance the compressive properties of PLA foam blocks, expanding their applications in high-performance industries. In addition, the use of eco-friendly PLA and the potential for scalable production make this approach a promising alternative for sustainable materials.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open Research
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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