Foam rubber

Slow polymers may be mixed by hand; because hand-mixing takes a long time, industrial applications tend to use powered mixers.

The main physical properties of foam rubber are light weight, buoyancy, cushioning, thermal and acoustic insulation, impact damping, and cost reduction.

[5] Crosslinking technology is used in the formation of EVA based foams, including LLDPE, LDPE, HDPE, PP, and TPE.

Crosslinking is chemical bonding between polymer chains, and is used in foam-rubber manufacturing to stabilize bubble expansion, enhanced resistance to thermal collapse, and improve physical properties.

Other methods involve breaking the foam down into granules and dispersing them into a polyol blend to be molded into the same part as the original.