Nanocomposite Foams with Balanced Mechanical Properties and Energy Return from EVA and CNT for the Midsole of Sports Footwear Application
Polymer foam that provides good support with high energy return (low energy loss) is desirable for sport footwear to improve running performance. Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) foam is commonly used in the midsole of running shoes. However, EVA foam exhibits low mechanical properties. Conven...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Polymers |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/15/4/948 |
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| author | Boon Peng Chang Aleksandr Kashcheev Andrei Veksha Grzegorz Lisak Ronn Goei Kah Fai Leong Alfred ling Yoong Tok Vitali Lipik |
| author_facet | Boon Peng Chang Aleksandr Kashcheev Andrei Veksha Grzegorz Lisak Ronn Goei Kah Fai Leong Alfred ling Yoong Tok Vitali Lipik |
| author_sort | Boon Peng Chang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Polymer foam that provides good support with high energy return (low energy loss) is desirable for sport footwear to improve running performance. Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) foam is commonly used in the midsole of running shoes. However, EVA foam exhibits low mechanical properties. Conventional mineral fillers are usually employed to improve EVA’s mechanical performance, but the energy return is sacrificed. Here, we produced nanocomposite foams from EVA and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) using a chemical foaming process. Two kinds of CNT derived from the upcycling of commodity plastics were prepared through a catalytic chemical vapor deposition process and used as reinforcing and nucleating agents. Our results show that EVA foam incorporated with oxygenated CNT (O-CNT) demonstrated a more pronounced improvement of physical, mechanical, and dynamic impact response properties than acid-purified CNT (A-CNT). When CNT with weight percentage as low as 0.5 wt% was added to the nanocomposites, the physical properties, abrasion resistance, compressive strength, dynamic stiffness, and rebound performance of the EVA foams were improved significantly. Unlike the conventional EVA formulation filled with talc mineral fillers, the incorporation of CNT does not compromise the energy return of the EVA foam. From the long-cycle dynamic fatigue test, the CNT/EVA foam displays greater properties retention as compared to the talc/EVA foam. This work demonstrates a good balanced of mechanical-energy return properties of EVA nanocomposite foam with very low CNT content, which presents promising opportunities for lightweight–high rebound midsoles for running shoes. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:14:01Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a319e68920704c10a570e59991e82279 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4360 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T08:14:01Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Polymers |
| spelling | doaj.art-a319e68920704c10a570e59991e822792023-11-16T22:52:06ZengMDPI AGPolymers2073-43602023-02-0115494810.3390/polym15040948Nanocomposite Foams with Balanced Mechanical Properties and Energy Return from EVA and CNT for the Midsole of Sports Footwear ApplicationBoon Peng Chang0Aleksandr Kashcheev1Andrei Veksha2Grzegorz Lisak3Ronn Goei4Kah Fai Leong5Alfred ling Yoong Tok6Vitali Lipik7School of Materials Science & Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, SingaporeSportmaster Innovation Centre, 3 Cleantech Loop, #06-14 Cleantech 2, Singapore 637143, SingaporeResidues and Resource Reclamation Centre (R3C), Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Cleantech Loop, Clean Tech One, Singapore 637141, SingaporeResidues and Resource Reclamation Centre (R3C), Nanyang Environment and Water Research Institute, Nanyang Technological University, 1 Cleantech Loop, Clean Tech One, Singapore 637141, SingaporeSchool of Materials Science & Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, SingaporeSchool of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, SingaporeSchool of Materials Science & Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, SingaporeSchool of Materials Science & Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Singapore 639798, SingaporePolymer foam that provides good support with high energy return (low energy loss) is desirable for sport footwear to improve running performance. Ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) foam is commonly used in the midsole of running shoes. However, EVA foam exhibits low mechanical properties. Conventional mineral fillers are usually employed to improve EVA’s mechanical performance, but the energy return is sacrificed. Here, we produced nanocomposite foams from EVA and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) using a chemical foaming process. Two kinds of CNT derived from the upcycling of commodity plastics were prepared through a catalytic chemical vapor deposition process and used as reinforcing and nucleating agents. Our results show that EVA foam incorporated with oxygenated CNT (O-CNT) demonstrated a more pronounced improvement of physical, mechanical, and dynamic impact response properties than acid-purified CNT (A-CNT). When CNT with weight percentage as low as 0.5 wt% was added to the nanocomposites, the physical properties, abrasion resistance, compressive strength, dynamic stiffness, and rebound performance of the EVA foams were improved significantly. Unlike the conventional EVA formulation filled with talc mineral fillers, the incorporation of CNT does not compromise the energy return of the EVA foam. From the long-cycle dynamic fatigue test, the CNT/EVA foam displays greater properties retention as compared to the talc/EVA foam. This work demonstrates a good balanced of mechanical-energy return properties of EVA nanocomposite foam with very low CNT content, which presents promising opportunities for lightweight–high rebound midsoles for running shoes.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/15/4/948ethylene-vinyl acetatemulti-walled carbon nanotubesfoamsplastic upcyclingdynamic impact responseenergy return |
| spellingShingle | Boon Peng Chang Aleksandr Kashcheev Andrei Veksha Grzegorz Lisak Ronn Goei Kah Fai Leong Alfred ling Yoong Tok Vitali Lipik Nanocomposite Foams with Balanced Mechanical Properties and Energy Return from EVA and CNT for the Midsole of Sports Footwear Application Polymers ethylene-vinyl acetate multi-walled carbon nanotubes foams plastic upcycling dynamic impact response energy return |
| title | Nanocomposite Foams with Balanced Mechanical Properties and Energy Return from EVA and CNT for the Midsole of Sports Footwear Application |
| title_full | Nanocomposite Foams with Balanced Mechanical Properties and Energy Return from EVA and CNT for the Midsole of Sports Footwear Application |
| title_fullStr | Nanocomposite Foams with Balanced Mechanical Properties and Energy Return from EVA and CNT for the Midsole of Sports Footwear Application |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nanocomposite Foams with Balanced Mechanical Properties and Energy Return from EVA and CNT for the Midsole of Sports Footwear Application |
| title_short | Nanocomposite Foams with Balanced Mechanical Properties and Energy Return from EVA and CNT for the Midsole of Sports Footwear Application |
| title_sort | nanocomposite foams with balanced mechanical properties and energy return from eva and cnt for the midsole of sports footwear application |
| topic | ethylene-vinyl acetate multi-walled carbon nanotubes foams plastic upcycling dynamic impact response energy return |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/15/4/948 |
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