Morphological, physical and mechanical properties of nanocrystalline cellulose filled Nylon 6 foams

Abstract

Nanocomposite foams based on Nylon 6 and nanocrystalline cellulose were prepared via extrusion and injection molding to study the effect of nanocrystalline cellulose concentration (0 to 5%), chemical foaming agent content (0, 1%, and 2%), and mold temperature (30℃ and 80℃) on the morphological, physical, and mechanical properties of the samples. Nanocrystalline cellulose content, especially between 1 and 3 wt%, was very effective in reducing the cell size and increasing the cell density of the foam structure. Nanocrystalline cellulose addition (0–5%) was found to increase density (4% for composites and 20% for foams), tensile strength (10% for composite and 13% for foams), tensile modulus (20% for composites and 34% for foams), and flexural modulus (37% for composites and 29% for foams), but decreased the impact strength (35–40% for composites and 20–40% for foams). Foaming agent addition (1%) was able to improve the specific tensile (10%) and flexural (12%) moduli, tensile strength (14%), elongation at break (6%), and impact strength (27%). Finally, higher mold temperature decreased skin thickness and, consequently, decreased the mechanical properties, mostly tensile strength of the foam samples (1% for composites and 18% for foams).

Effect of Cellulose Nanofiber (CNF) Surface Treatment on Cellular Structures and Mechanical Properties of Polypropylene/CNF Nanocomposite Foams via Core-Back Foam Injection Molding

“…This decrease was more obvious for the CNF-0.2 sample, which reduced the elongation at break from 384% for iPP to 300% for the composites. This was similar to other systems of polymer mixed with filler, which was due to the decreasing deformability of a rigid interphase between the polymer resin and the stiff filler [ 36 , 43 , 44 , 45 ].…”

Lightweight High-Performance Polymer Composite for Automotive Applications

“…Recently, Luo and his research group studied the effects of several processing parameters on the cell morphology and the properties of a series of microcellular polyetherimide (PEI) foams that were prepared by microcellular injection molding with supercritical nitrogen as foaming agent [13,18]. Another engineering plastic adopted for microcellular injection molding is polyamide 6 [19,20]. This material is extremely important for the automotive industry, for under-the-hood components.…”

Rotomolding of Foamed and Unfoamed GTR-LLDPE Blends: Mechanical, Morphological and Physical Properties

“…Adding reinforcement to produce a composite is one method to improve the mechanical properties of a rotomolded part [1, 13, 14]. Another well-known modification is to add a blowing agent to foam a rotomolded part for lower density and higher insulation [15–18].…”