Bubble Seeding Nanocavities: Multiple Polymer Foam Cell Nucleation by Polydimethylsiloxane-Grafted Designer Silica Nanoparticles
Shanqiu Liu, Sida Yin, Joost Duvigneau, G. Julius Vancsó
Abstract
absorption and capillary condensation in the corresponding PMMA during saturation. This increase results in the presence of large amounts of the physical blowing agent close to energetically favorable nucleation points. Additionally, it is shown that as a consequence of cell coalescence, the increased number of foam cells is rapidly reduced during the first seconds of foaming. Hence, the design of highly efficient nucleating particles, as well as careful selection of foam matrix materials, seems to be of pivotal importance for obtaining polymer cellular materials with cell dimensions at the nanoscale. These findings contribute to the fabrication of polymer foams with high thermal insulation capacity and have relevance in general to the area of cellular materials.