The effect of carboxymethylcellulose on the cellular structure of polyethylene foam

One of the goals of modern research in the field of polyethylene foams is the increment of cell density and reduction of the cell size to achieve the desired physical and mechanical properties. Today, it has been proven that the use of nucleating agents to control cell morphology (ie, cell density, cell size and distribution) in polyethylene foams is absolutely necessary. The aim of this paper is to investigate the role of carboxymethylcellulose cell nucleating agent based on the difference of suitable surface energy with polyethylene. In this study, polyethylene foams with different concentrations of carboxymethylcellulose were prepared using compression molding and the cell structure of the foams was examined using a light microscope and Image-j software. The results show that the sample containing 1phr of carboxymethylcellulose has the uniform cell structure distribution (very narrow Gaussian cell distribution) and the lowest average cell diameter (55μm).