Effect of alcohol in the curing kinetics of phenolic resins

SANTIAGO GANDINO; VERÓNICA VIVIANA NICOLAU; MARIA EUGENIA TAVERNA; DIANA ALEJANDRA ESTENOZ; FLAVIA HOFTETTER

Simposio; XVI Latin-American Polymer Symposium (SLAP 2018), XIV Iberoamerican Polymer Congress (CIP 2018); 2018

Phenol-formaldehyde (PF) resins were the first fullysynthetic polymers. Commercialized since 1910, theystill find wide applications such as decorativelaminates. Decorative laminates are produced in threestages: i) synthesis of base PF resin; ii) Impregnationand drying of papers; and iii) curing of papers withtemperature and pressure. PF resins for paperimpregnation are typically produced in batch stirredtankreactors. As condensation proceeds, oligomersturn immiscible in water. Finally, water is vacuumremoved,and the resin is dissolved in alcohol forstorage, to improve the paper impregnation. Duringthis stage, the polymerization is controlled by thereaction of the functional groups, and the oligomericspecies obtained are completely soluble. During curing,molar masses of resin increases until the system gelsand finally vitrifies. The impregnation and drying stepmust be completed before gelation.In this work, the effect of alcohol on the curing kineticsof industrial resin and the optimization of the time ofimpregnation and drying of papers was studied. Thesynthesis was carried out in CENTRO S.A (SanFrancisco, Córdoba, Argentina).