Styrofoam

This article is about the Styrofoam brand. For other materials sometimes referred to as "Styrofoam", see extruded polystyrene foam and expanded polystyrene. For other uses, see Styrofoam (disambiguation).
Styrofoam insulation extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), owned and manufactured by DuPont

Styrofoam is a genericized trademarked brand of closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam (XPS), manufactured to provide continuous building insulation board used in walls, roofs, and foundations as thermal insulation and as a water barrier. This material is light blue in color and is owned and manufactured by DuPont. DuPont also has produced a line of green and white foam shapes for use in crafts and floral arrangements.[1]

Worker installing styrofoam frost protection insulation board.

The term styrofoam is often used in the United States as a colloquial term to refer to expanded (not extruded) polystyrene foam (EPS).[2] Outside the United States, EPS is most commonly referred to as simply "polystyrene" with the term "styrofoam" being used in its capacity to describe all forms of extruded polystyrene, not just the Dupont brand itself. Polystyrene (EPS) is often used in food containers, coffee cups, and as cushioning material in packaging.[3][1] Styrofoam is, however, a far less dense material than EPS and is more commonly suited to tasks such as thermal insulation.[2]

Additionally, it is moderately soluble in many organic solvents, cyanoacrylate, and the propellants and solvents of spray paint.

  1. ^ a b "You can't drink coffee from a STYROFOAM cup". The Dow Chemical Company. Archived from the original on 2005-12-01.
  2. ^ a b "Has styrofoam become a generic trademark?". genericides.org. 31 January 2020. Retrieved April 29, 2021.
  3. ^ "What is STYROFOAM?". March 24, 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-03-24.