Nanocellular foam with solid flame retardant

1. A process for preparing nanofoam comprising the following steps:

(a) providing an aqueous solution of a flame retardant dissolved in an aqueous solvent, wherein the flame retardant is a solid at 23° C. and 101 kiloPascals pressure when in neat form;

(b) providing a fluid polymer composition selected from a solution of polymer dissolved in a water-miscible solvent or a latex of polymer particles in a continuous aqueous phase;

(c) mixing the aqueous solution of flame retardant with the fluid polymer composition to form a mixture;

(d) removing water and, if present, solvent from the mixture to produce a polymeric composition having flame retardant present at a concentration of less than 74 weight-percent based on total polymeric composition weight;

(e) compounding the polymeric composition with a matrix polymer to form a matrix polymer composition; and

(f) foaming the matrix polymer composition into nanofoam having a porosity of at least 60 percent.

2. The process of claim 1 , further characterized by the flame retardant in step (a) being a halogen-free flame retardant.

3. The process of claim 1 , further characterized by the flame retardant being aluminum tris (2-(diethyoxyphosphoryl) acetate).

4. The process of claim 1 , where the fluid polymer composition of step (b) is a latex of polymer particles in a continuous aqueous phase.

5. The process of claim 4 , further characterized by the polymer particles of the latex in step (b) being miscible with the matrix polymer of step (e).

6. The process of claim 4 , further characterized by the polymer particles of the latex and the matrix polymer being selected from acrylate polymers.

7. The process of claim 4 , further characterized by removing water and, if present, solvent in step (d) at pressure and temperature conditions under which the flame retardant is a solid and the polymer particles in the latex do not indistinguishably coalesce.

8. The process of claim 1 , further characterized by foaming the matrix polymer composition in step (f) by pressurizing a mixture of carbon dioxide and the matrix polymer composition under temperature and pressure conditions so that the carbon dioxide dissolves in the polymer matrix to form a foamable polymer composition and then depressurizing the foamable polymer composition at a rate of at least 100 megaPascals per second to cause the foamable polymer composition to foam.