Super‐Elastic and Dimensionally Stable Polyether Block Amide Foams Fabricated by Microcellular Foaming with CO2&N2 as Co‐Blowing Agents

Abstract

AbstractPolyether block amide (PEBA) is an important thermoplastic polyester elastomer (TPE) owing to its low density and high resilience. Microcellular foaming can endow PEBA with significant potential in sports, medical, and industrial applications. However, with the current microcellular foaming technology, it remains challenging to obtain PEBA foams with stable shapes, which are critical for their mechanical properties. Therefore, microcellular foaming with CO2 and N2 as co‐blowing agents is utilized in this study to achieve mechanically robust PEBA foams by reducing the dimensional shrinkage. The introduction of N2 can effectively slow the diffusion rate of blowing agents into the air, providing support for the foam to resist external atmospheric pressure and effectively reducing the dimensional shrinkage of PEBA foams. Consequently, a stable foam shape is achieved with an expansion ratio of 7.9. Finally, the PEBA foams with excellent shrinkage resistance and mechanical properties are prepared, and the cell shrinkage mechanism is analyzed to study the effects of blowing agents and foaming methods on the structural evolution of TPE foams. This promising outcome paves way for their practical industrial applications.