摘要 |
The selection of additives to improve the solubility of blowing agents may be facilitated by using a method that involves determining and comparing the activity coefficients of prospective additives to the activity coefficients of candidate blowing agents in a given base polymer for producing a polymeric foam article. The method for the selection of an additive may comprise selecting a representative compound for the base polymer and determining a first activity coefficient for a blowing agent in the representative compound. Also selected are several candidate additives, each having a different functional group, and determining a second activity coefficient for the blowing agent in each of the candidate additives. Among the candidate additives is selected the additive, wherein the second activity coefficient is lower than the first activity coefficient. The method may be incorporated into a process for forming polymeric foams and the manufacture of a polymeric foam.
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