EXPANDABLE STARCH BEAD AND METHOD FOR PREPARING SAME

摘要

The present invention relates to an expandable starch bead comprising a starch/monomer copolymer and a blowing agent with which the starch/monomer copolymer is impregnated. The starch/monomer copolymer is prepared by binding one or more monomers to a starch, wherein the monomers are selected from a group consisting of styrene, á-methylstyrene, lactide, lactic acid, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, acrylic acid ester, methacrylic acid ester, acrylonitrile, acrylamide and carprolactone. The blowing agent comprises one or more elements selected from the group consisting of C2 toC7 aliphatic hydrocarbons, C2 toC7 halogenated hydrocarbons, and carbon dioxide. The expandable starch bead according to the present invention has characteristics that are similar to those of an expandable polystyrene bead, and thus can be foam-molded by foaming equipment for an expandable polystyrene bead. Therefore, foams with various sizes and shapes can be prepared from the expandable starch bead of the present invention.