THE EFFECT OF WELL EXFOLIATED AND DISPERSED GRAPHENE OXIDE SHEETS ON THE POLYSTYRENE SUPERCRITICAL CARBON DIOXIDE FOAMING

摘要

In this study, we investigated the nucleation effect of well exfoliated and dispersed GO sheets on polystyrene supercritical carbon dioxide foaming. To get PS/GO nanocomposites with well exfoliated GO sheets, a method based on latex concept were employed. The characterizations based on X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Transmission electron microscope (TEM) demonstrated the exfoliation and well dispersion of GO sheets in polymer matrix. The supercritical carbon dioxide foaming of pure PS and nanocomposites were carried out in a batch foaming system, the results showed that the well exfoliated GO sheets could be a high efficient nucleation agent. The average foam cell size was reduced from 7.1μm to 4.3μm and the cell density was increased from 2.04×l0~(10) to 3.17×10~(10) cells/cm~3 by around 5.0wt% GO sheets.