Novel poly(aryl ether nitrile ketone) foams and the influence of copolymer structure on the foaming result

Novel poly(aryl ether nitrile ketone) foams were prepared through the batch foaming method with supercritical CO2 as the blowing agent. Both temperature‐induced and pressure‐induced foaming methods were conducted to examine the influence of nitrile groups on the foaming result. The results indicated that nitrile groups influenced the foaming result by affecting both the viscoelasticity and CO2 absorption of the polymers. In addition, the CO2 solubility of the polymers increased with increasing CN content presumably because of the Lewis acid–base nature of the interaction between the CO2 molecules and the nitrile groups. The cell growth process was assessed by analyzing the influence of foaming temperature and foaming time on the cell morphology. Nanocellular foams with a minimum size of 30–50 nm were achieved by the temperature‐induced foaming method. Moreover, highly expanded foams with a maximum expansion ratio of 23.6 were obtained by the pressure‐induced foaming method. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry Designed poly(aryl ether nitrile ketone) foams were prepared using supercritical CO2. The nitrile groups affected the foaming result by increasing both CO2 absorption and the viscoelasticity of the polymers.