Applications of additives for the development of high-performance footwear

Ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA) polymeric foams are one of the most widespread used foams for athletic high-performance footwears. Low density, high impact peak force, low energy absorption, low thermal conductivity, high hydrophobicity, and high thermal stability are several crucial factors of a midso...

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Main Author: Tham, Shi Cheng
Other Authors: Alfred Tok Iing Yoong
Format: Final Year Project
Language:English
Published: Nanyang Technological University 2021
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/147823
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1478232023-03-04T15:45:19Z Applications of additives for the development of high-performance footwear Tham, Shi Cheng Alfred Tok Iing Yoong School of Materials Science and Engineering Sportsmaster MIYTok@ntu.edu.sg Engineering::Materials Ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA) polymeric foams are one of the most widespread used foams for athletic high-performance footwears. Low density, high impact peak force, low energy absorption, low thermal conductivity, high hydrophobicity, and high thermal stability are several crucial factors of a midsole polymeric foam. This project investigated the influence of carbon-based additives after incorporation in EVA polymeric foam. Five carbon-based additives, namely, carbon black, graphene, graphene oxide, carbon nanotube (CNT), and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) were incorporated into EVA matrix with varying weight percentages (1-5 wt%) and synthesized with compression moulding. Varying the weight percentages of additives enabled the observation of the trends of the various property’s changes. Morphology, density, mechanical, thermal, and surface properties were analyzed via a series of characterization processes. Effects of each carbon-based additives on various properties were studied and discussed. Comparison of effects between different additives were made to understand the compatibility of each additives with EVA polymeric matrix foams. Characterization results indicated that incorporation of carbon-based additives into EVA matrix led to a lower foam porosity and higher density. It was observed that various properties of foams were highly correlated to the morphology of the foams. Foams with lower porosity generally displayed higher density, higher thermal conductivity, higher compressive stress, and higher energy absorption. In contemplation of reducing density and increase entrapment of gas phase in foams to allow optimization of properties, addition set of foam samples with increased amount of crosslinking reagent was synthesized. With the increase in degree of crosslinking, the densities of foams were lowered and mechanical properties such as compressive stress and energy absorption were enhanced. This was accredited to the increase of polymer melt strength and hence, better formation of pores and entrapment of gas phase. Carbon black, graphene, and CNT foam samples with higher degree of crosslinking exhibited promising results. Despite their lower density (~10%) relative to pure EVA foams, they displayed better mechanical and thermal properties. These samples had high compressive stress, 10 to 15% higher than that of the reference sample. Their low densities allowed them to have low energy absorption, slightly higher relative to the reference sample (0.3-0.7N.s). High volume fraction of gas phase within these foam samples also enabled them to have lower thermal conductivity (5 to 25%) than the reference sample. This proved that with a optimized degree of crosslinking, these additives are highly compatible with EVA matrix and displayed great potential as high-performance footwear foams. Future research could be geared towards a deeper analysis of the molecular structure of the polymer chains via spectroscopy techniques. Analysis from these spectroscopy results would enable the attainment of an optimal and most suitable foam composition for each carbon-based additive. Bachelor of Engineering (Materials Engineering) 2021-04-15T13:43:39Z 2021-04-15T13:43:39Z 2021 Final Year Project (FYP) Tham, S. C. (2021). Applications of additives for the development of high-performance footwear. Final Year Project (FYP), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. https://hdl.handle.net/10356/147823 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/147823 en application/pdf Nanyang Technological University
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Engineering::Materials
spellingShingle Engineering::Materials
Tham, Shi Cheng
Applications of additives for the development of high-performance footwear
description Ethylene-vinyl-acetate (EVA) polymeric foams are one of the most widespread used foams for athletic high-performance footwears. Low density, high impact peak force, low energy absorption, low thermal conductivity, high hydrophobicity, and high thermal stability are several crucial factors of a midsole polymeric foam. This project investigated the influence of carbon-based additives after incorporation in EVA polymeric foam. Five carbon-based additives, namely, carbon black, graphene, graphene oxide, carbon nanotube (CNT), and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) were incorporated into EVA matrix with varying weight percentages (1-5 wt%) and synthesized with compression moulding. Varying the weight percentages of additives enabled the observation of the trends of the various property’s changes. Morphology, density, mechanical, thermal, and surface properties were analyzed via a series of characterization processes. Effects of each carbon-based additives on various properties were studied and discussed. Comparison of effects between different additives were made to understand the compatibility of each additives with EVA polymeric matrix foams. Characterization results indicated that incorporation of carbon-based additives into EVA matrix led to a lower foam porosity and higher density. It was observed that various properties of foams were highly correlated to the morphology of the foams. Foams with lower porosity generally displayed higher density, higher thermal conductivity, higher compressive stress, and higher energy absorption. In contemplation of reducing density and increase entrapment of gas phase in foams to allow optimization of properties, addition set of foam samples with increased amount of crosslinking reagent was synthesized. With the increase in degree of crosslinking, the densities of foams were lowered and mechanical properties such as compressive stress and energy absorption were enhanced. This was accredited to the increase of polymer melt strength and hence, better formation of pores and entrapment of gas phase. Carbon black, graphene, and CNT foam samples with higher degree of crosslinking exhibited promising results. Despite their lower density (~10%) relative to pure EVA foams, they displayed better mechanical and thermal properties. These samples had high compressive stress, 10 to 15% higher than that of the reference sample. Their low densities allowed them to have low energy absorption, slightly higher relative to the reference sample (0.3-0.7N.s). High volume fraction of gas phase within these foam samples also enabled them to have lower thermal conductivity (5 to 25%) than the reference sample. This proved that with a optimized degree of crosslinking, these additives are highly compatible with EVA matrix and displayed great potential as high-performance footwear foams. Future research could be geared towards a deeper analysis of the molecular structure of the polymer chains via spectroscopy techniques. Analysis from these spectroscopy results would enable the attainment of an optimal and most suitable foam composition for each carbon-based additive.
author2 Alfred Tok Iing Yoong
author_facet Alfred Tok Iing Yoong
Tham, Shi Cheng
format Final Year Project
author Tham, Shi Cheng
author_sort Tham, Shi Cheng
title Applications of additives for the development of high-performance footwear
title_short Applications of additives for the development of high-performance footwear
title_full Applications of additives for the development of high-performance footwear
title_fullStr Applications of additives for the development of high-performance footwear
title_full_unstemmed Applications of additives for the development of high-performance footwear
title_sort applications of additives for the development of high-performance footwear
publisher Nanyang Technological University
publishDate 2021
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/147823
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