Authors
Félix Lizalde-Arroyo, Frederik Van Loock, Victoria Bernardo, Tuuli Peltola, René Bes, Alberto Tena, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez-Pérez, Judith Martín-de León
Published in
Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.). Pages e74680. Aug 19, 2026. Epub Aug 19, 2026.
Abstract
Nanocellular polyetherimide (PEI) exhibits enhanced toughness and impact resistance compared to the initial solid precursor, an effect usually attributed to the presence of nanometric cells within a confined glassy polymer matrix. In this work, we examine whether the CO2 saturation step used in gas dissolution foaming can affect the mechanical response by modifying the thermodynamic state of the glassy polymer. Thermal annealing without CO2 increases the yield stress and reduces ductility, whereas solid PEI saturated with CO2 and subsequently fully desorbed shows lower yield stress, an increase in tensile ductility, and an improved impact response. Density, gas transport, WAXS, and PALS measurements were used to further analyze this state, showing that the effect of CO2 leads to a subtle modification of the glassy matrix, changing the packing and gas accessible regions of the matrix. It is proposed that this matrix state, together with the nanocellular architecture, contributes to the brittle-to-ductile transition observed in nanocellular PEI. Our work highlights that optimization of the mechanical properties of nanocellular polymers should not only focus on the key characteristics of the final cellular morphology, but also on the conditions that define the state of the polymer matrix surrounding the pores before and during foaming.
PMID:
42619418
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 20 Aug 2026.
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