Improvement in mechanical and thermal properties of phenolic foam reinforced with multiwalled carbon nanotubes

ABSTRACT Phenolic foams reinforced with pristine and functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were fabricated to develop fire‐resistant materials with improved mechanical properties. The influences of the contents of carboxyl multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs‐COOH) and of MWCNTs type...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied polymer science 2013-11, Vol.130 (3), p.1479-1488
Main Authors: Yang, Zhongjia, Yuan, Lili, Gu, Yizhuo, Li, Min, Sun, Zhijie, Zhang, Zuoguang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Cellular
Combustion
Composites
Density
Exact sciences and technology
flame retardance
Foams
Forms of application and semi-finished materials
Materials science
mechanical properties
Multi wall carbon nanotubes
Plastic foam
Polymer industry, paints, wood
Polymers
Reproduction
Scanning electron microscopy
Technology of polymers
Thermal properties
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:ABSTRACT Phenolic foams reinforced with pristine and functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were fabricated to develop fire‐resistant materials with improved mechanical properties. The influences of the contents of carboxyl multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs‐COOH) and of MWCNTs types on the compressive properties of the composite foams were investigated. The microstructure and detailed failure behavior of MWCNTs/phenolic composite foams were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and in situ quasistatic compression inside SEM, respectively. In addition, thermal performances were evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and vertical burning method. It is found that as heterogeneous nucleation agents, MWCNTs increase cell density and decrease cell size of the produced foams, and that as reinforcements located in cell walls, MWCNTs impart high strength and stiffness to brittle foams. Moreover, MWCNTs reinforced foams have higher thermal stability than raw foams and exhibit similar excellent resistance to flame, confirming the effectiveness of MWCNTs as stabilizers. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 1479–1488, 2013
ISSN:0021-8995
1097-4628
DOI:10.1002/app.39326