A new process to fabricate polymeric hierarchical microporous foams was developed and the effects of process parameters on the cell structure, Young’s Modulus, ultimate tensile strength and density of the resulting foams were studied. The process uses a suspo-emulsion in which one phase is volatile blowing agent/particle slurry and the other phase is a heat curable polymer. We found that the initial concentration of each of the components had drastic effects on the stability of the suspo-emulsion and whether or not the suspo-emulsion would phase invert to create polymer particles instead of polymer foam. Also, increasing the amount of blowing agent in a given suspo-emulsion resulted in lower density foam with a larger Young’s modulus and higher ultimate tensile strength. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was the polymer chosen for the systematic study of the process and epoxy resin was also used to demonstrate the versatility of the process. Since the resulting foam is microporous and open-celled and because PDMS is hydrophobic, the produced foam rejects high surface tension liquids like water, but absorbs low surface tension liquids like motor oil. Thus, foams fabricated from different compositions were evaluated for their ability to absorb oil for their potential application in maritime oil spill cleanup operations.
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = RULIB)
ETD
Identifier
ETD_4881
PhysicalDescription
Form (authority = gmd)
electronic resource
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
text/xml
Extent
xii, 79 p. : ill.
Note (type = degree)
M.S.
Note (type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Note (type = statement of responsibility)
by Michael C. Fechtmann
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Foam
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Manufactures
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Polymers industry
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Graduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = local)
rucore19991600001
Location
PhysicalLocation (authority = marcorg); (displayLabel = Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)
Rutgers University. Graduate School - New Brunswick
AssociatedObject
Type
License
Name
Author Agreement License
Detail
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.