Copolymers of ethylene and their use in the preparation of foamable plastics

摘要

A foamable copolymer comprising 40 to 98 percent by weight units of ethylene, 1 to 30 weight percent units of vinyl alcohol, 1 to 30 weight percent units of acrylic acid ester of a secondary or tertiary alcohol, and up to 2 percent by weight of vinyl acetate units is described together with a process for the manufacture thereof. The same is useful in the formation of a foamed mass which is relatively highly cross-linked. The copolymer can be foamed to form a foam by heating the same at 250 DEG to 350 DEG C. for 5 to 60 minutes in the absence of oxygen.