Chain extension and foaming of recycled PET in extrusion equipment

In this work industrial scraps of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) were used for the production of foamed sheets. The process was performed by making use of a chemical blowing agent (CBA) in the extrusion process. Due to the low intrinsic viscosity of the recycled PET (IV=0.48dl/g), a chain extender was also used in order to increase the molecular weight of the polymer matrix. Pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) and Hydrocerol CT 534 were chosen as chain extender and CBA, respectively. The reactive extrusion and foaming were performed in a two step process, analyzing the feasibility regarding an eventual use in an industrial context. Rheological characterization was carried out on PET samples previously treated with PMDA, as well as the morphological study was performed to define the cellular structure of the foams produced. Moreover, in order to correlate the working conditions in the reactive and the foaming processes with the final morphology of the foams, a mathematical modelling of the foaming process was applied.