Crosslinked ethylene butyl acrylate copolymer foams with different cellular structure interconnectivity and tortuosity: Microstructure and physical properties

ABSTRACT In this work, the cellular structure, physical properties, and the structure–property relationship of several novel crosslinked ethylene butyl acrylate (EBA) foams with different cellular structure interconnectivity (low tortuosity and high tortuosity) have been analyzed and compared to that of closed cell EBA foams and to that of an open‐cell polyurethane foam. The results have shown that these materials present interesting properties highly dependent on the tortuosity of the cellular structure. In particular, it has been proved that reducing the tortuosity allows enhancing the acoustic absorption, the oil uptake, and the cushioning behavior. On the other hand, increasing tortuosity allows improving the impact behavior. In addition, the new open‐cell materials present an enhanced damping factor for low‐frequency vibrations. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019, 136, 48161.