EAGER: Do Nanofoams Have a Natural Vacuum Inside the Cells?

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This EArly-concept Grant for Exploratory Research (EAGER) provides funding for conducting experiments to develop a process to create polymer foams with nanoscale cell size. It has been hypothesized that nanocellular foams (or nanofoams) may be able to achieve a natural vacuum inside cells, provided the cell size is smaller than the mean free path of gas/air molecules at standard atmospheric conditions. The proposed research will test this hypothesis by creating nanofoams that have cell diameters smaller than 70 nm, the mean-free-path for air molecules. A novel processing strategy to reduce cell size based on reduced polymer surface energy will be explored. The thermal conductivity of the nanofoams will be measured and compared to foams with microscale cells as well as solid polymer.If successful, this research could enable the production of foams with thermal insulation values as much as double that of microcellular polymer foams. Such foams could significantly impact the construction industry by improved insulation properties or the electronics industry by enabling further miniaturization through reduced material need.