SPEAKER/S: CRISTINA SAIZ ARROYO AND ALBERTO LOPEZ GIL
DESCRIPTION Foaming is a complex phenomenon, where several mechanisms, such as nucleation, growth, and stabilization of the cellular structure, play a key role. Understanding these mechanisms is essential for producing foams with tailored properties. The webinar will focus on two key aspects of foaming mechanisms: Nucleation: This section will address the influence of processing parameters and different nucleating agents on the foaming process. We will explore how the choice of nucleants and the control of process parameters can significantly impact the nucleation stage, which is critical for determining the final foam structure. Growth and Stabilization (Foamability): In this part, we will discuss the mechanisms involved in the growth of bubbles and the stabilization of the foam structure, commonly referred to as foamability. We will explain how factors such as viscosity, strain hardening, and crystallization temperature affect the foam's cellular structure and density. Additionally, we will present the experimental techniques used to analyze and quantify these mechanisms, both ex-situ and in-situ. Techniques such as optical expandometry, X-ray radioscopy, infrared expandometry, and in-situ FTIR will be highlighted to demonstrate how they provide insights into the dynamics of foaming processes. Several case studies will also be presented to show how this knowledge is applied in real industrial settings.

SPEAKER/S: ESTER LAGUNA GUTIERREZ
DESCRIPTION: Developing optimum, new or more sustainable formulations for specific applications can be defiant and time-consuming especially when using a trial-and-error approach. To tackle this challenge a well-defined and validated methodology can be used to monitor the foaming kinetics of a PU foam to obtain a better understanding of the connection between its final cellular structure and properties and the chemical composition. It evaluates, on the one hand, the chemical aspects of the foaming process (FTIR spectroscopy and foaming temperature measurements) and on the other hand, their physical aspects (IR- expandometry and X-ray radioscopy). As a result, foaming mechanisms can be quantified and therefore, controlled. In this webinar we will present the principles of the methodology. By diving into several examples, it will be shown how the information provided by CellMat’s methodology is key to success in the design of new formulations.

SPEAKER/S: CRISTINA SAIZ ARROYO AND ALBERTO LOPEZ GIL
DESCRIPTION: Thermal conductivity, mechanical properties, surface quality, or acoustic performance, among others, strongly depend on cellular structure characteristics such as average cell size, cell size distribution, anisotropy ratio, cell wall thickness, fraction of mass in the struts, and gradients in cellular structure. This applies to a wide variety of foams: rigid or flexible PU and PIR foams, XPS, XPO, expanded beads, rubber foams, biobased foams, etc.

SPEAKER/S: ALBERTO LOPEZ-GIL
DESCRIPTION: Biopolymers are considered one of the most attractive approaches to tackle the environmental concerns associated with plastics, such as littering in natural ecosystems and the shortage of space in landfills. The same problem is linked to foamed products obtained from fossil-based polymers, not only those used for foamed packaging products but also those used in longer-term applications, such as in thermal insulation or car parts. In all these applications the use of biobased polymers also provides a lower carbon footprint.  However, biopolymers often lack the required features needed in a polymer to obtain a good foam: absence of melt strength, low thermal resistance, and poor mechanical performance, to name a few. This is why the foam market is wondering if biopolymers can be considered as a real option to obtain more sustainable foamed products with similar structures and properties to the ones already obtained using fossil-based polymers.

SPEAKER/S: ALBERTO LOPEZ-GIL
DESCRIPTION: Rubbers or elastomers are polymers with outstanding properties, such as high elasticity, thermal resistance, and abrasion resistance, among others, which make them widely used in several applications such as tires, gloves, footwear, seals, hoses, belts, adhesives, to name a few. The combination of the properties inherently linked to elastomers with those typically found in foams, such as low density, thermal insulation, acoustic absorption, buoyancy, energy absorption and so on, turn elastomeric or rubber foams into a very attractive and versatile materials, which are nowadays used in several sectors and applications. However, their extremely low glass transition temperature, low modulus, the need for crosslinking and the inherent shrinkage phenomena, make it a foaming system challenging to control. 

SPEAKER/S: VICTORIA BERNARDO-GARCIA
DESCRIPTION: Extrusion foaming is a continuous, quick, simple, and versatile technique to fabricate foamed products at industrial scale. Among others, extrusion foaming allows the production of foamed tubes, pipes, frames, or sheets from a large variety of polymer matrices. This technology can be applied to the production of both high and low-density foamed parts.

SPEAKER/S: CRISTINA SAIZ-ARROYO
DESCRIPTION: One of the main applications of low-density polymeric foams is thermal insulation. The inclusion of a gaseous phase is accompanied by a strong reduction of thermal conductivity that makes these materials ideal candidates to be employed as thermal insulating materials in many different applications. Several facts are boosting the development of thermal insulating materials with lower thermal conductivities and consequently, with improved insulating efficiencies. Thus, it is becoming more and more important reaching quantifiable reductions in the thermal conductivity values to obtain insulating materials with advanced characteristics. 

SPEAKER/S: MIGUEL ANGEL RODRIGUEZ-PEREZ
DESCRIPTION: In this second part of the webinar, different approximations are considered to evaluate and understand how the changes in the formulation affects the reaction kinetics and foaming mechanisms (nucleation, coalescence, coarsening and drainage) of PU foams. It is also explained how the information obtained from this detailed analysis of the reaction kinetics can be used to develop foams with improved properties. 

SPEAKER/S: ESTER LAGUNA-GUTIERREZ
DESCRIPTION: This webinar is focused on analyzing how the cellular structure and properties of PU foams are affected by changing the formulation using different approaches: incorporation of micro and nanoparticles, incorporation of liquid additives, changes in the type of blowing agent, etc.