Supercritical foam materials are widely used in transportation, sports equipment, ships, aerospace, furniture, decorations, etc. , toys, protective equipment and packaging industries. The demand for the foaming market is steadily increasing. According to the statistics of research institutions, it is expected that by 2030, the total global demand will generate nearly 180 billion US dollars.
Why is the future demand for supercritical foam materials so great, and what magic does this material have?
Supercritical foam molding technology is a kind of physical foam molding technology, and it is also a kind of microcellular foam molding technology. Usually, the pore size can be controlled at 0.1-10μm, and the cell density is generally 109-1015 cells/cm3.
(1) When the cells in the material are smaller than the internal defects of the material parts, the strength of the material will not be reduced due to the existence of cells;
(2) The existence of micropores makes the crack tip passivated in the material, preventing the crack from expanding under the action of stress, thereby improving the mechanical properties of the material.
Microcellular plastics not only have some unique properties of general foamed materials, but also have excellent mechanical properties compared with traditional foamed materials. The existence of pores reduces the amount of material used in the same volume, which can reduce the weight and savings of plastic parts. Material, showing high cost performance such as 5 times the impact strength and fatigue resistance of the material, and a 5%-90% reduction in density.
There are so many advantages of supercritical foamed materials, so what are the application examples in our daily life?
▶▶1. Transportation
Supercritical foam materials are used in automotive interiors, rail transit and other fields, and have their unique advantages:
1) No VOC, no peculiar smell, completely solve the odor problem;
2) Lightweight, the density can be as low as 30Kg/m3, which can reduce the weight of the whole vehicle;
3) Light weight and high strength, comprehensive mechanical properties are better than traditional foam materials;
4) Non-crosslinked, recyclable;
5) Excellent thermal insulation, shock absorption, waterproof and sound insulation performance.
▶▶2. New energy battery
Supercritical foamed POE is used in thermal insulation gaskets for new energy batteries, mainly to compensate for assembly tolerances and thermal insulation buffers. At the same time, it also has excellent properties such as light weight, low density, good creep performance, chemical corrosion resistance, voltage breakdown resistance, and good thermal stability.
▶▶3.5G industry application
Supercritical foamed PP is used in 5G radomes. Its high strength meets the requirements of wind resistance and anti-photo-oxidative aging requirements for more than 10 years outdoors. The surface does not hang water, and the surface has a superhydrophobic layer similar to the surface of lotus leaves.
▶▶4. Daily consumption
Supercritical foam molding technology has been widely used in shoe materials, and this process has gradually become a “black technology” force in the field of shoe materials, and is slowly introduced to the market. TPU shoe materials using supercritical foam technology have turned back up to 99%
Supercritical foamed TPE applied to yoga mat
In recent years, with the continuous improvement of my country’s wind turbine technology and the steady growth of wind power installed capacity, it has directly brought about cost reductions. Expensive energy in the past has now become a new energy source with the lowest price in many places. my country will also cancel subsidies for the wind power industry from 2020 to 2022.
Enterprises in the wind power industry will get rid of the meager profits maintained by subsidies, which will help industrial integration and reduce production capacity under the stimulation of market demand, improve technology and efficiency, and bring excellent opportunities to the foaming material industry. It is believed that supercritical foam materials will be applied to more fields in the future!
Post time: Aug-29-2022