Chain-Length Shortening of Methyl Ethyl Hydroxyethyl Cellulose: An Evaluation of the Material Properties and Effect on Foaming AbilityShow others and affiliations
2018 (English)In: Journal of Polymers and the Environment, ISSN 1566-2543, E-ISSN 1572-8919, Vol. 26, no 11, p. 4211-4220Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
During the past century, plastics have become a natural element in our every-day life. Lately however, an awareness about the fossil origin and often non-degradable nature of many plastics is rising. This has resulted in the emergence of some bio-based and/or biodegradable plastics, often produced from renewable resources. One possible candidate for bioplastics production could be found in cellulose. This paper aims at contributing information regarding a cellulose derivative, which could possibly be used in foamed plastics applications. Therefore, the reduction of the chain-length of a methyl ethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose (MEHEC), assessed by size exclusion chromatography, and the effect of chain-length on the foaming behaviour were studied. The foaming was accomplished with a hot-mould technique using aqueous polymer solutions. The generated steam was here used as the blowing agent and important parameters were polymer concentration and solution viscosity. The density of the produced foams was assessed and was in some cases comparable to that of commodity foams. It was found that reducing the chain-length enabled an increase of the initial polymer concentration for the foaming process. This is believed to be beneficial for creating more structurally stable foams of this type.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2018. Vol. 26, no 11, p. 4211-4220
Keywords [en]
Cellulose derivatives, Chain-length shortening, Foaming, Methyl ethyl hydroxyethyl cellulose (MEHEC), Rheology, Biodegradable polymers, Blowing agents, Cellulose, Chains, Elastomers, Foamed plastics, Plastics applications, Runway foaming, Size exclusion chromatography, Aqueous polymer solutions, Biodegradable plastics, Bioplastics production, Hydroxyethyl cellulose, Natural elements, Polymer concentrations, Renewable resource, Solution viscosity, Chain length
National Category
Natural Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-35595DOI: 10.1007/s10924-018-1290-8Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85051843231OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-35595DiVA, id: diva2:1261190
Note
; Funding details: VR, Vetenskapsrådet; Funding text: Acknowledgements The funding from the Swedish Research Council
2018-11-062018-11-062023-10-12Bibliographically approved