There are many types of foam molding methods. The most commonly used methods are the pressure foaming method, in which foam resin is mixed with a foaming agent at high temperature and high pressure, and the normal pressure foaming method, which foams at high temperature without pressure. The polymer resins used for foaming have different viscosities. For foaming under normal pressure, they need to be designed and analyzed for optimal foaming conditions, to obtain resins with low melt-viscosity or a narrow optimal viscosity range. This study investigated how changes in viscosity, molding temperature, and cross-link foaming conditions affected the characteristics of the molded foam, prepared by blending rubber polymer with biodegradable resin. The morphologies of cross sections and the cell structures of the normal pressure foam were investigated by SEM analysis. Properties were also studied according to cross-link/foaming conditions and torque. Also, the correlation between foaming characteristics was studied by analyzing tensile strength and elongation, which are mechanical properties of foaming composites.

This study focused on enhancing the mechanical properties and thermal stability of bio-composites with natural agricultural residues and improving the interfacial adhesion between polymer and biodegradable agricultural residual waste fibers. To achieve this purpose, we proposed superheated steam (SHS) treatment method as a novel pre-treatment of fiber for improved of compatibility in polymer matrix. The use of SHS-treatment was investigated as a method for improving interfacial adhesion between agricultural residual waste fibers and polymer and with the goal of enhancing mechanical properties. We selected wheat straw fibers for agricultural waste fibers to improve the surface modification. Wheat Straw Fibers (WSF) was treated with SHS in order to modify its characteristics for bio-composite applications. Treatment was conducted at temperatures 200oC and 230oC for each 1 h. SHS-treated WSF was evaluated for its chemical composition, thermal stability, morphology and crystallinity. Thermal stability of the fibers was investigated using thermogravimetric analysis and found that the degradation temperature of the fibers is increased after of the SHS treatment. In addition, SHS treatment contained in the WSF reduce the rate of hemicellulose components. The WSF is polar nature of lignocellulose due to the presence of hydroxyl and carboxyl groups in cellulose and hemicellulose causes it to be incompatible with non-polar thermoplastics. SHS-treatment was found to be able to remove hemicellulose, which is the most hydrophilic and most thermally unstable component in WSF, since it has the lowest thermal resistance. Removal of hemicellulose makes the fiber less hydrophilic and this will potentially increase the compatibility of treated WSF and polymers and improves the mechanical properties and water resistance of composites.

The innovation in this study is the complexation of Erianthus fibers (Erianthus arudinaceus) with compatibilizer inPP by extrusion, to produce a material with an improvement in mechanical properties. The aim is to provide a general-purpose material from biomass that does not compete with food as an alternate material from the petroleum base.Erianthus is a cellulose resource crop which is a source of bio fuel, is inedible, highly productive and promising energyresource, there has been little report on its use as a material. It also is a cellulose resource crop with a high productivityas a fiber reinforcement material with low environmental load. Development of Erianthus fiber reinforced polypropylene(PP) composite material was reviewed. Erianthus fiber was pulverized and the powder was sorted by sieve size, whichwas put through the process of complexation with polypropylene using a twin-screw extruder. The mechanicalcharacteristics of the obtained composite material were evaluated by conducting a tensile strength test and a bendingtest. As a result of using the classified fiber as the filler, it is found that the difference in the surface area of the fiberhas a great effect on the mechanical properties and the thermal decomposition properties. It is found to be sufficientlyfeasible to make Erianthus function as a polypropylene fiber reinforcement element by controlling the size of Erianthusfiber.