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Differential scanning calorimetry of phenol–formaldehyde resols
Author(s) -
Christiansen A. W.,
Gollob L.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.1985.070300601
Subject(s) - formaldehyde , exothermic reaction , differential scanning calorimetry , phenol , hydroxymethyl , sodium hydroxide , chemistry , condensation , condensation reaction , polymer chemistry , organic chemistry , materials science , thermodynamics , catalysis , physics
Differential scanning calorimetry was used on a range of synthesized phenol–formaldehyde (PF) resols to discover relationships between formulation parameters or physical properties of resols, and their thermal behavior during cure. The thermograms showed either one or two exothermic reactions. The lower exothermic peak temperature varied between 98 and 129°C with changes in the free formaldehyde content. This exotherm is caused by the addition of free formaldehyde to phenolic rings. The upper exothermic peak temperature varied from 139 to 151°C, with the higher temperatures occurring when the formaldehyde‐to‐phenol molar ratio was low or the total amount of sodium hydroxide relative to phenol was high. These two factors led to resins which contain a somewhat higher level of unreacted ortho or para aromatic ring positions and no free formaldehyde. Consequently, condensation is probably not solely by the faster self‐condensation through hydroxymethyl groups, but also includes the slower condensation of hydroxymethyl groups with unreacted ring positions. Gel times show trends with changes of formulation parameters somewhat similar to trends of the upper exothermic peak temperatures.