ELASTIC FOAM MATERIAL MADE OF PARTICLES BASED ON POLYOLEFIN/STYRENE POLYMER MIXTURES Russian patent published in 2013 - IPC C08J9/00 C08J9/16 C08J9/18 B82B3/00 B82Y40/00 

FIELD: chemistry.

SUBSTANCE: thermoplastic foam material consists of expandable thermoplastic particles containing a polymer matrix which consists of a styrene polymer, polyolefin and a hydrogenated or non-hydrogenated styrene-butadiene block copolymer, which form a continuous phase rich in the styrene polymer and a dispersed phase rich in polyolefin. The foam material has cells with average size ranging from 50 mcm to 250 mcm. The cladding of the cells has a nano-cellular structure with pore diameter of 100-500 nm. The method of producing thermoplastic foam materials from said particles consists of the following steps: a) obtaining a polymer matrix by mixing said thermoplastic polymers, b) the obtained polymer matrix is saturated with a foaming agent and granulated to obtain expandable thermoplastic polymer particles, c) the expandable thermoplastic polymer particles are pre-foamed to obtain particles of foam material, and d) the pre-foamed particles of foam material are welded in a mould under the action of hot air or steam to obtain moulded articles from foam material consisting of particles at operating pressure which is set sufficiently low in order to preserve the nano-cellular structure in the cladding of the cells.

EFFECT: design of a method and obtaining expandable thermoplastic polymer particles with low loss of the foaming agent and high expandability, which can be processed to obtain foam materials made of particles with high flexural rigidity and good elasticity at the same time.

5 cl, 4 tbl, 2 dwg, 13 ex