SBIR Phase II: Synthesis and Processing of High Performance Polymer Nanocomposite Foams

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）二期项目将利用创新的纳米技术开发和扩大一组新型轻质、高强度和耐火的聚合物泡沫。该项目探索利用具有高二氧化碳亲和力的片状和纤维状纳米颗粒合成纳米复合材料。包括具有高CO2溶解度的小相的聚合物共混物被用作基体材料。为了提高耐火性能，还采用反乳液悬浮聚合的方法制备了无表面活性剂和可水膨胀的聚合物/粘土纳米复合材料。由于不需要低分子量表面活性剂，因此不存在火灾危险问题。这些聚合物混合纳米复合材料然后用于生产高性能泡沫产品，旨在绝缘和结构应用。聚合物共混物中纳米颗粒的存在使得在制造过程中可以更好地控制细胞形态和泡沫密度。获得了保温性能优于现有保温材料的超低密度泡沫和力学性能接近固体聚合物的高密度微孔泡沫。为了获得更好的发泡性能和力学性能，将对材料和工艺条件进行优化。在商业上，纳米复合材料增强泡沫具有取代固体聚合物的结构应用潜力。2001年，美国的聚合物泡沫市场超过74亿磅。目前，它们的应用受到机械强度、表面质量、热稳定性和阻燃性差的限制。此外，传统的氯氟烃（CFC）发泡剂造成臭氧消耗，将于2010年禁止使用。由于采用了环保发泡剂CO2代替CFCs，该项目的成功将对环境保护具有极其重要的价值。这项新技术的成功实施将对节能、节材和环境保护产生重大影响，这对我国的经济和社会健康至关重要。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop and scale-up a newgroup of light-weight, high-strength and fire-resistant polymeric foams by using innovativenanotechnology. The project explores the synthesis of nanocomposites using both plate-like and fiber-like nanoparticles with high carbon dioxide (CO2) affinity. Polymer blends including a minor phase with high CO2 solubility are used as the matrix material. To improve fire-resistance, surfactant-free and water-expandable polymer/clay nanocomposites are also prepared by suspension polymerization of inverse emulsion. Since low molecular weight surfactants are not needed, there is no fire hazard problem. These polymer blend nanocomposites are then used to produce high performance foam products aimed at both insulation and structural applications. The presence of nanoparticles in polymer blends allows better control of cell morphology and foam density in the manufacturing processes. Ultra-low-density foams with thermal insulation properties better than the existing insulation materials and high-density microcellular foams with mechanical properties close to those of solid polymers are achieved. The materials and processing conditions will be optimized to obtain better foamability and mechanical properties of these novel nanocomposites foams.Commercially, nanocomposite reinforced foams have the potential in structural applications to replace solid polymers. The U.S. market for polymer foams was more than 7.4 billion pounds in 2001. Currently, their applications are limited by poor mechanical strength, surface quality, thermal stability and fire retardance. Furthermore, traditional chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) blowing agents cause ozone depletion and will be banned by 2010. As environmentally benign blowing agent CO2 is used to replace CFCs, the success of this project will be extremely valuable for environmental protection. A successful implementation of this novel technology can lead to significant impact on energy saving, material saving, and environmental protection that are critical to our nation's economy and societal health.