Daniel Cuadra-Rodriguez

A Flexible Barrier To Avoid Solid Skin Appearance In Cellular Polymers Produced By Gas Dissolution Foaming

Abstract: Gas dissolution foaming is one of the most employed methods to produce polymer foams. Despite all the advantages of this environmentally friendly method based on physical gas dissolution, the obtained cellular polymers generally present a non-foamed solid skin surrounding the foamed core. This feature is related to the diffusivity mechanisms which are involved in the pressure drop stage and represents a significant drawback, limiting many potential applications of these materials. This work proposes the incorporation of a flexible gas diffusion barrier during the foaming process which allows reducing the solid skin without limiting the expansion during the foaming stage.

Biography: Graduated in Physics. Currently, I work in CellMat laboratory (University of Valladolid) as PhD student. My research is focused on improving the gas dissolution foaming to fabricate cellular polymers without external solid skins. The resulted foams with enhanced features and properties could be used in a broad range of new applications.