Preparing Polypropylene Auxetic Foam by a One-Pot CO2 Foaming Process

At present, the direct preparation of polymer foam with negative Poisson ratio (auxetic foam) from nonpolar polymer resins is still a challenge. Herein, a one-pot CO2 foaming method is established to directly prepare closed-cell auxetic foams with different cellular structures (bimodal cell structure and homogeneous cell structure) from polypropylene (PP) resin by introducing hydrophilic additives (NaCl) into PP and regulating foaming conditions. The effects of foaming temperature, saturation time, and size of added NaCl on Poisson's ratio are studied. The comparison with PP/talc composites shows that the presence of NaCl plays a crucial role in the formation of the negative Poisson ratio of foam. Furthermore, the regulation of the size of negative Poisson ratio is achieved by controlling the amount of NaCl in PP/NaCl composites. This study has important reference significance for the preparation of nonpolar polymer auxetic foams.

Automated summary

In this study, closed-cell auxetic foams with negative Poisson ratio were successfully prepared directly by introducing NaCl additives and regulating foaming conditions. The presence of NaCl was found to play a crucial role in the formation of the negative Poisson ratio, and the size of the negative Poisson ratio could be controlled by adjusting the amount of NaCl in the foam.