Effects of modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes on the curing behavior and thermal stability of boron phenolic resin

One kind of boron phenolic resin (BPR) was prepared from the solvent-less reaction of resoles with boric acid. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed that the reaction degree of boric acid was 83.8%. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were modified by nitric acid, 4,4'-Diaminodiphenyl methane and boric acid. The effect of modification was determined by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) techniques and XPS. The cure kinetics and thermal behavior of BPR and modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (m-MWCNTs)/BPR were studied. It was found that the curing apparent activation energy (E-a) decreased with the increasing amount of m-MWCNTs. But there was no obvious change in the orders of curing reactions. The results of TGA showed that 1.0 wt% of the m-MWCNTs could increase the thermal decomposition temperature (T-d) and the char yield of m-MWCNTs/BPR nanocomposites by 36.7 degrees C and 6.2%. These critical enhancements will definitely help to attract more researches on this area. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.