High‐density polyethylene foams. I. Polymer and foam characterization

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Abstract
The density and morphology of closed‐cell high‐density foams were investigated with four different molecular weights of high‐density polyethylene (HDPE). The characterization of polyethylene via rheological methods was used to determine its influence on foam density and morphology. We found that foaming grade decreased with increasing molecular weight and increased with blowing agent content. The average cell size was also a strong function of molecular weight and blowing agent content. Increasing both the molecular weight and amount of blowing agent decreased the cell size. Cell size also increased for our lowest molecular weight HDPE but decreased for the others. Cell density also increased with increasing HDPE molecular weight. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 2111–2119, 2003