Extrusion Foam of Polylactic Acid Using Stereocomplex Crystals

Abstract

Polymeric foams are widely used in our world and are common to many application fields due to the possibility of reducing the overall weight of the products and to tailor mechanical and functional properties to specific needs. Foams dominate thermal insulation, acoustic absorption, cushioning and impact protection applications. The global polymer foam market size was valued at USD 109.71 billion in 2018 (projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.0% from 2019 to 2025). These figures derive from the huge versatility of polymeric foams and the economy of the foaming process. As a matter of fact, their properties depend not only on the polymer but also on the degree of expansion (characterised by the foam density) and the foam structure (principally, the amount of open cell versus closed cell and the pore size distribution).