Fabrication of Poly(butylene succinate)/Carbon Black Nanocomposite Foams with Good Electrical Conductivity and High Strength by a Supercritical CO2 Foaming Process

Zhou Chen; Junfeng Hu; Jiajun Ju; Tairong Kuang

doi:10.3390/polym11111852

Fabrication of Poly(butylene succinate)/Carbon Black Nanocomposite Foams with Good Electrical Conductivity and High Strength by a Supercritical CO₂ Foaming Process

Polymers (Basel). 2019 Nov 10;11(11):1852. doi: 10.3390/polym11111852.

Authors

Zhou Chen¹, Junfeng Hu^{1

2}, Jiajun Ju³, Tairong Kuang⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Mechanical and Power Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211800, China.
² Suzhou Yi He Yong Li New Energy Co., Ltd, Suzhou 215400, China.
³ The Key Laboratory of Polymer Processing Engineering of Ministry of Education, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China.
⁴ College of Material Science and Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China.

Abstract

Lightweight, high-strength and electrically conductive poly(butylene succinate) (PBS)/ carbon black (CB) nanocomposite foams with a density of 0.107-0.344 g/cm³ were successfully fabricated by a solid-state supercritical CO₂ (ScCO₂) foaming process. The morphology, thermal and dynamic mechanical properties, and rheological behavior of the PBS/CB nanocomposites were studied. The results indicate that the CB nanofiller was well dispersed in the PBS matrix and the presence of a proper CB nanofiller can accelerate the rate of crystallization, improve the thermal stability, enhance the stiffness, and increase the complex viscosity of PBS/CB nanocomposites. These improved properties were found to play an important role in the foaming process. The results from foaming experiments showed that the PBS/CB nanocomposite foams had a much smaller cell size, a higher cell density, and a more uniform cell morphology as compared to neat PBS foams. Furthermore, the PBS/CB nanocomposite foams also possessed low density (0.107-0.344 g/cm³), good electrical conductivity (~0.45 S/cm at 1.87 vol % CB loading), and improved compressive strength (108% increase), which enables them to be used as lightweight and high-strength functional materials.

Keywords: carbon black (CB); good electrical conductivity; lightweight; poly(butylene succinate) (PBS); solid-state ScCO2 foaming.