Decomposition Of Azodicarbonamide Research Articles

Enhanced Separation Performance of Hierarchically Porous Membranes Fabricated via the Combination of Crystallization Template and Foaming.

In this work, poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) hierarchically porous membranes (HPMs) with isolated large pores and continuous narrow nano-pores have been fabricated from its blend with poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) based on the combination of crystallization template with chemical or supercritical CO2 foaming. On the one hand, the decomposition of azodicarbonamide (ADC, chemical foaming agent) or the release of CO2 can produce isolated large pores. On the other hand, PMMA is expelled during the isothermal crystallization of PVDF in their miscible blend, yielding narrow nano-pores upon etching with a selective solvent. In the case of supercritical CO2, the attained PVDF HPMs fail to improve separation performance because of the compact wall of isolated-large-pore and consequent poor connectivity of hierarchical pores. In the case of ADC, the optimal HPM exhibits much higher flux (up to 20 times) without any loss of selectivity compared with the reference only with nano-pores. The enhanced permeability can be attributed to the shorter diffusion length and lower diffusion barrier from isolated large pores, while the comparable selectivity is determined by narrow nano-pores in THE matrix.

Nanoclay Intercalation During Foaming of Polymeric Nanocomposites Studied in-Situ by Synchrotron X-Ray Diffraction.

The intercalation degree of nanoclays in polymeric foamed nanocomposites containing clays is a key parameter determining the final properties of the material, but how intercalation occurs is not fully understood. In this work, energy dispersive X-ray diffraction (ED-XRD) of synchrotron radiation was used as an in-situ technique to deepen into the intercalation process of polymer/nanoclay nanocomposites during foaming. Foamable nanocomposites were prepared by the melt blending route using low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS) with surface treated nanoclays and azodicarbonamide (ADC) as the blowing agent. Foaming was induced by heating at atmospheric pressure. The time and temperature evolution of the interlamellar distance of the clay platelets in the expanding nanocomposites was followed. Upon foaming, interlamellar distances of the nanocomposites based on LDPE and PP increase by 18% and 16% compared to the bulk foamable nanocomposite. Therefore, the foaming process enhances the nanoclay intercalation degree in these systems. This effect is not strongly affected by the type of nanoclay used in LDPE, but by the type of polymer used. Besides, the addition of nanoclays to PP and PS has a catalytic effect on the decomposition of ADC, i.e., the decomposition temperature is reduced, and the amount of gas released increases. This effect was previously proved for LDPE.

Effect of azodicarbonamide on microstructure, cure kinetics and physical properties of natural rubber foam

The effect of azodicarbonamide as chemical blowing agent on the morphology, cure kinetics and physical properties of natural rubber foam is investigated. From the morphology, when the amount of chemical blowing agent increases from 3 to 4 phr, the bubble size in the rubber matrix slightly decreases due to the increase of vulcanization reaction rate from the presence of amine fragment species as by-products from the decomposition of azodicarbonamide. The coalescence between bubbles is observed in the specimen with 5 and 6 phr of azodicarbonamide owing to high gas content in the rubber matrix. Moreover, the scorch time slightly reduces and cure rate increases as a function of azodicarbonamide content. The autocatalytic model can be used to explain the curing reaction and mechanism of this natural rubber foam. Furthermore, the activation energy (Ea) directly relates to the bubble size and microvoid structure of natural rubber foam. When compared with the vulcanized natural rubber without adding chemical blowing agent, it is found that the bulk density of natural rubber foam significantly decreases and the volumetric expansion ratio of natural rubber foam increases at high content of chemical blowing agent. Moreover, natural rubber foam at 4 phr of azodicarbonamide exhibits the lowest thermal expansion coefficient due to the smallest bubble size with less coalescence.

Plastisol foaming process. Decomposition of the foaming agent, polymer behavior in the corresponding temperature range and resulting foam properties

AbstractThe decomposition of azodicarbonamide, used as foaming agent in PVC—plasticizer (1/1) plastisols was studied by DSC. Nineteen different plasticizers, all belonging to the ester family, two being polymeric (polyadipates), were compared. The temperature of maximum decomposition rate (in anisothermal regime at 5 K min−1 scanning rate), ranges between 434 and 452 K. The heat of decomposition ranges between 8.7 and 12.5 J g−1. Some trends of variation of these parameters appear significant and are discussed in terms of solvent (matrix) and viscosity effects on the decomposition reactions. The shear modulus at 1 Hz frequency was determined at the temperature of maximum rate of foaming agent decomposition, and differs significantly from a sample to another. The foam density was determined at ambient temperature and the volume fraction of bubbles was used as criterion to judge the efficiency of the foaming process. The results reveal the existence of an optimal shear modulus of the order of 2 kPa that corresponds roughly to plasticizer molar masses of the order of 450 ± 50 g mol−1. Heavier plasticizers, especially polymeric ones are too difficult to deform. Lighter plasticizers such as diethyl phthalate (DEP) deform too easily and presumably facilitate bubble collapse. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2013. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers

Preparation and characterization of flexible poly(vinyl chloride) foam films

In this study, the effect of activator ZnO and heating time at 190°C on foaming, gelation, and dehydrochlorination of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) plastisol was investigated. For this purpose, a PVC plastisol was prepared by mixing PVC, dioctyl phthalate (DOP), azodicarbonamide (ADC), ZnO, and the heat stabilizers calcium stearate (CaSt2) and zinc stearate(ZnSt2). PVC plastisol films were heated for 3, 6, 12, and 24 min periods at 190°C to see the effect of heating time on the gelation and foaming processes of the PVC foam. The time of 12 min was determined to be optimum for the completion of gelation and foaming processes without thermal degradation of PVC. No foaming was observed under the same conditions for the samples without ZnO. ZnO had a significant catalytic effect on ADC decomposition, accelerating the foaming of the films. Average porosity measurement showed a consistent increase in porosity with heating time up to 76% and the average density decreased from 1.17 to 0.29 g/cm3 on foaming. Tensile tests showed that the tensile strength and tensile strain both increased considerably up to 0.98 MPa and 207%, respectively, with heating time and the elastic modulus was seen to gradually decrease from 4.7 to 0.7 MPa with heating time. Films without ZnO had higher tensile strength since there were no pores. PVC thermomat tests showed that ZnO lowered the stability time of plastigel film with azodicarbonamide. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012

Influence of the sample mass and the presence of the reaction products on the thermoanalytical results

It has been known from the very beginning of the thermal analysis that the transport processes can significantly influence the thermoanalytical results. In this paper, three characteristic examples are given to show that this problem is more complex and arises more frequently than it is generally believed. The studied reactions are the carbon monoxide evolution from calcium oxalate, the thermal degradation of polytetrafluoroethylene, and the thermal decomposition of azodicarbonamide. TG and DSC experiments were carried out with sample masses varying between 0.05 and 8 mg. The necessity of the development of new kinetic models is concluded.