Abstract
A series of branched thermoplastic polyester elastomer (TPEE) samples with different branch densities was prepared through reactive extrusion. The creep recovery experimental results showed that an increase in the branch density led to more deformation in the branched TPEE samples. Batch foaming was conducted to prepare TPEE foams, and the cell morphology was subsequently characterized. The shrinkage behavior of the TPEE foams was investigated using the Kohlrausch–Williams–Watts (KWW) model. This was also used to obtain the relaxation time and breadth of the relaxation time distribution. The vital role of chain relaxation in shrinkage was investigated. The results showed that the relaxation time decreased and the relaxation time distribution became narrower with larger stretching, which led to shrinkage of the TPEE foams. The rapid decrease in the relaxation time and narrowing of the relaxation time distribution with a larger branch density also resulted in shrinkage. Therefore, it is effective to prolong the relaxation time and broaden the relaxation time distribution by increasing the cell density or decreasing the branch density to reduce the shrinkage. Increasing the cell density could maintain both expansion ratio and dimensional stability. However, decreasing the branch density was accompanied by sacrificing the expansion ratio to reduce shrinkage.
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