Polymeric Foams Innovations in Processes, Technologies, and Products

Polymeric foams are sturdy yet lightweight materials with applications across a variety of industries, from packaging to aerospace. As demand for these materials increase, so does innovation in the development of new processes and products. This book captures the most dynamic advances in processes, technologies, and products related to the polymeric foam market. It describes the latest business trends including new microcellular commercialization, sustainable foam products, and nanofoams. It also discusses novel processes, new and environmentally friendly blowing agents, and the development and usage of various types of foams, including bead and polycarbonate, polypropylene, polyetherimide microcellular, and nanocellular. The book also covers flame-retardant foams, rigid foam composites, and foam sandwich composites and details applications in structural engineering, electronics, and insulation. Authored by leading experts in the field, this book minimizes the gap between research and application in this important and growing area.

Introduction Shau-Tarng Lee Microcellular Polypropylene Foam Peng Guo and Xiulei Jiang Preparation of Poly(ethylene terephthalate) Foams Using Supercritical CO2 as Blowing Agent Ling Zhao, Tian Xia, Zhenhao Xi, and Tao Liu Formation Mechanism and Tuning for Bimodal Cell Structure in Foams by Synergistic Effect of Temperature Rising and Depressurization with Supercritical CO2 Han-Xiong Huang and Lin-Qiong Xu Extrusion Foaming of Polylactide Richard Gendron and M. Mihai Innovative PLA Bead Foam Technology Mohammadreza Nofar, Alireza Tabatabaei, and Chul B. Park Nanocellular Foams Stéphane Costeux Rigid Structural Foam and Foam-Cored Sandwich Composites Wenguang Ma and Kurt Feichtinger Microcellular Polyimide Foams: Fabrication and Characterization Yang Li and Wentao Zhai Recent Innovations in Thermoplastic Foams Tomoo Tokiwa and Tatsuyuki Ishikawa Advanced CAE Technology for Microcellular Injection Molding Chao-Tsai (CT) Huang and RY Chang Index

Dr. Shau-Tarng (S.-T.) Lee received his PhD from Stevens Institute of Technology and joined Sealed Air Corp. in foam research, foam product/process, and technology development as a development engineer, a research and development director, and currently a senior research fellow. He has over 100 publications, including 28 patents. Dr. Lee was elected an SPE Fellow in 2001 and was inducted into Sealed Air’s inventor Hall of Fame in 2003. He has authored and edited five foam books published by Technomic and CRC Press. At present, Dr. Lee serves as the Polymeric Foams book series editor for CRC Press, a coeditor-in-chief for the Journal of Cellular Plastics, and the principal editor for Foam Update.