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Morphology and compressive behaviour of foams produced from thermoplastic protein

  • Polymers
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Abstract

Novatein® is a patented thermoplastic biopolymer produced from denatured haemoglobin and serum albumin proteins, in blood meal. This material is biodegradable after processing, and when foamed could provide an alternative to expanded polystyrene and polyurethane for short-term applications such as packaging. This study aims to investigate the effect of processing temperature on foam density and morphology and how these properties effect compression behaviour. Unconstrained rapid expansion produced a range of foam densities, 0.28–0.45 g/cm3, which were strongly dependant on temperature. The foams had compressive strengths between 200 and 600 kPa and an elastic moduli between 2.2 and 8 MPa. Under compression, high-density foams behaved like traditional plastic foams, while at low density they behaved more elastomeric. Models for open and closed cells successfully predicted the compression modulus and strength in the linear elastic region. The foams demonstrated a mixed mode morphology (open and closed cells) and an irregular distribution of cells, which explained the deviation from the models.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the contributions of the Biopolymer Network Ltd (BPN), Aduro Biopolymers (Novatein® commercialisation), and the funding received from the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (BPLY1302 contract).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering, Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Waikato, Knighton Road, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Chanelle Gavin, Casparus J. R. Verbeek & Mark C. Lay

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  1. Chanelle Gavin
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  2. Casparus J. R. Verbeek
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  3. Mark C. Lay
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Correspondence to Chanelle Gavin.

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Gavin, C., Verbeek, C.J.R. & Lay, M.C. Morphology and compressive behaviour of foams produced from thermoplastic protein. J Mater Sci 53, 15703–15716 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-2714-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-018-2714-5

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