The PI has invented and patented a process for making a new class of polymeric materials which he calls microcellular plastics. The process consists of the formation of a gas/polymer solution and the inducement of its thermodynamic instability to nucleate a very large number (1015 cells/cm3) of microbubbles or cells which are on the order of 10-6m in diameter. These cells are smaller than the flaws that preexist within polymers and thus do not compromise the polymer's specific mechanical properties. This can be done at room temperature as well as at higher temperatures. The technology has been further developed and commercialized by industry. The goals of the proposed research are to determine the fundamental mechanisms of super gas concentration in polymers and to develop a new class of materials, which the PI is calling ultra-microcellular plastics, which are characterized by cell sizes on the order of 10-7m in diameter and cell densities of the order of 1018 cells/cm3 of parent material. Understanding the physical phenomena governing super gas concentration in polymers can be used to affect the performance-structure-property-processing relationship of these materials and help design procedures to manufacture the new, even more densely packed foams that the PI is planning to produce. Ultra-microcellular plastics have potential advantages over the parent material and over other foams such as transparency, high-impact strength, increased strength-to- weight ratio, and improved thermal and dielectric properties. On a broader scale, understanding the fundamental phenomena involved in the synthesis of these materials could be used to develop industrial technologies for example for environmentally-safe foaming technologies, filters, optical materials, insulation materials, and substrates for photographic films.
