Abstract: Poly（butylene adipate-co-terephthalate） （PBAT）/cellulose composites were prepared through melt blending， and then the PBAT/cellulose foams were prepared using supercritical CO2 as a physical foaming agent through intermittent autoclave foaming under different operation temperatures. The crystallization properties， rheological properties， foaming properties， and compression resilience properties of the PBAT/cellulose composites and their foams were investigated. The results indicated that the introduction of cellulose promoted the crystallization of PBAT. With increasing the cellulose content， the cold crystallization peak of the PBAT-based composites shifted to a higher temperature at first and then to a lower temperature， and meanwhile the storage modulus and complex viscosity of the composites increased. The expansion rate of the PBAT/cellulose composite foams increased at first and then tended to decreases with an increase in the cellulose content. However， the composite forms presented a decrease in the cell density at first， followed by an increase and then a decrease. PBAT-g-GMA could act as a compatibilizer to improve the compatibility between PBAT and cellulose， which resulted in stable cell morphology and improved flexibility for the composite foams. The cell density， cell size， and expansion ratio of the composite foams were affected by the autoclave pressure relief temperature. When the PBAT/cellulose composite was soaked in supercritical CO2 at 130 oC for 2 hours， the expansion ratio of the composite foams complex reaches 13.06 and their cell density reached 0.37×1010 cell/cm3 at an autoclave pressure relief temperature of 80 oC and a cellulose content of 10 phr.

Key words: poly（butylene adipate terephthalate）, cellulose, foaming