Morphology and physical properties of composite foams based on low‐density polyethylene and ground tire rubber

Abstract

Low-density polyethylene (LDPE)/(ground tire rubber) (GTR) composite foams with an average cell size smaller than 100 mm were produced by compression molding. The effects of the mechanochemical pretreatment of the LDPE/GTR blends and their GTR content on the cell morphology and physical properties were investigated. The results indicated that the pretreatment of LDPE/GTR blends by using a pan-mill type of mechanochemical reactor made in our laboratory improved the dispersion state and thereby enhanced the foamability of the blends. The average cell size of the composite foams decreased from 64.0 to 42.3 mm with an increase in GTR content from 0 to 50 phr (parts by weight per hundred parts of resin). Moreover, the addition of 20-40 phr of GTR into the LDPE foams increased their rebound resistance and decreased their compression set.

Effect of ground tire rubber on structural, mechanical and thermal properties of flexible polyurethane foams

“…Over the last few years, several research works [14][15][16] on the foamed polymer compositions containing rubber waste have been published. However, the main topic was the chemical foaming of polyolefin mixtures with waste rubber particles.…”

Rigid Polyurethane Foams Modified with Ground Tire Rubber - Mechanical, Morphological and Thermal Studies

“…It is worth to notice that physical foaming of polyolefin/ GTR composites is still limited by technological difficulties (i.e. complex and expensive apparatus for dosing gases or supercritical fluids), therefore most of articles published in this area are related to chemical foaming [10,11].…”

Thermoplastic Elastomer Foams Based on Recycled Rubber

“…However, PP foams do not offer a high enough state of physical properties to fully compete in the foaming market. To improve its impact toughness and extend its application range to lower temperatures, a number of studies on PP toughening were performed by using economical elastomers which is a successful way of reducing cost while maintaining or even improving properties (Zhang et al, 2008;Tian et al, 2013).…”