Polylactide foams prepared by a traditional chemical compression‐molding method

Abstract To reduce environmental pollution and oil shortages, biodegradable polylactide (PLA) from plants was used to replace synthetic plastic from petroleum. In this study, high‐melt‐viscosity PLA was achieved through the in situ reaction of carboxyl‐ended polyester (CP) and solid epoxy (SE) first; then, PLA foams were successfully prepared by a chemical compression‐molding method. The detailed foaming factors were also studied, including the decomposition temperature of the blowing agent, the foam temperature, and the open‐mold temperature. The results reveal that the obtained PLA foams had good water absorption and degradable properties, and the foam density was low as 0.16 g/cm 3 . Moreover, the effects of the CP/SE concentration and the AC content on the properties of the foams were also investigated. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013