| Abstract: | Solid state microcellular foaming technology was employed to investigate the influence of impact modification on the foamability of neat rigid PVC and rigid PVC/wood‐flour composite samples. The effects of impact modifier types (crosslinked versus uncrosslinked) and concentrations on the void fraction of foamed samples were examined. The influence of impact modification on the sorption behavior of CO2 in the samples was also studied. The experimental results indicate that impact modification accelerates the rate of gas loss during the foaming process, which impedes the growth of nucleated cells, independent of modifier type. Because of this accelerated gas loss, impact modification inhibits the potential of producing foamed samples with void fractions similar to those achieved in unmodified samples. |
