LAUSR

Cellulose nanofibers are promising materials in the development of polymeric foams, because they act as heterogeneous nucleation sites for the growth of cells during foaming. In this research, we studied the incorporation of cellulose nanoparticles in poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate)-EVA foams. The foams were produced with different fiber contents. We observed the effect of a chemical treatment by acetylation on the cellulose fibber, that is, we evaluated the use of hydrophilic and hydrophobic cellulose nanofibers in EVA foams. The main results indicate that with the addition of only 1% of cellulose nanofibers, cell density significantly reduces when compared with the pure EVA foams. On the other hand, by increasing the cellulose content, the agglomeration of nanofibers also increases, which results in heterogeneous cell sizes. The same phenomenon was observed in the foams produced with acetylated cellulose nanofibers, regardless of the fiber content used. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 44760.