Novolac® resin

Epoxy novolac resins are produced by glycidation of the low-molecular-weight reaction products of phenol (or cresol) with formaldehyde. Highly cross-linked systems are formed that have superior performance at elevated temperatures. 

Two-Stage Resins. The ratio of formaldehyde to phenol is low enough to prevent the thermosetting reaction from occurring during manufacture of the resin. At this point the resin is termed novolac resin. Subsequently, hexamethylenetetramine is incorporated into the material to act as a source of chemical cross-links during the molding operation (and conversion to the thermoset or cured state). 

Casting resin Novolac resin Poly(tetrafluoroethylene) Poly(chloro- trifluoro- ... 

I ovolac Synthesis and Properties. Novolac resins used in DNQ-based photoresists are the most complex, the best-studied, the most highly engineered, and the most widely used polymers in microlithography. Novolacs are condensation products of phenoHc monomers (typically cresols or other alkylated phenols) and formaldehyde, formed under acid catalysis. Figure 13 shows the polymerization chemistry and polymer stmcture formed in the step growth polymerization (31) of novolac resins. 

Fig. 14. Molecular weight characteristics of novolac resins. Shown is the size-exclusion chromatogram for a typical commercial novolac polymer. The unsymmetrical peak shape reflects the multimodal molecular weight distribution of the polymer.

Eig. 27. Optical absorption spectra of thin, 1 p.m-films of novolac, polyhydroxystyrene and polyacrylate polymers. The novolac resin is transparent only above 300 nm. While polyhydroxystyrene also absorbs strongly below 300 nm, it exhibits a region of adequate transparency centered near 248 nm. The... 

Eor more demanding uses at higher temperatures, for example, in aircraft and aerospace and certain electrical and electronic appHcations, multifunctional epoxy resin systems based on epoxy novolac resins and the tetraglycidyl amine of methylenedianiline are used. The tetraglycidyl amine of methylenedianiline is currently the epoxy resin most often used in advance composites. Tetraglycidyl methylenedianiline [28768-32-3] (TGALDA) cured with diamino diphenyl sulfone [80-08-0] (DDS) was the first system to meet the performance requirements of the aerospace industry and is still used extensively. 

Lithium insertion in microporous hard carbons (region 3 in Fig. 2) is described in section 6. High capacity hard carbons can be made from many precursors, such as coal, wood, sugar, and different types of resins. Hard carbons made from resole and novolac resins at temperatures near 1000°C have a reversible capacity of about 550 mAh/g, show little hyteresis and have a large low voltage plateau on both discharge and charge. The analysis of powder X-ray diffraction. 

Fig. 12. Powder X-ray diffraction pattern for the 002 peak of samples made from epoxy novolac resin (ENR) as indicated. The data sets have been offset sequentially by 0, 500, 1900 and 3200 counts for clarity.

A hard carbon with high capacity can be made from epoxy novolac resin [12]. The epoxy resins used cost about US 2.50 per pound and give pyrolysis yields between 20 and 30%. However, it is well known that phenolic (or phenol-formaldehyde) resins can be pyrolyzed to give hard carbons with a yield of over 50% [42]. In addition, these resins cost about USSl.OO per pound. Phenolic resins therefore offer significant cost advantages over epoxy resins, so we... 

The term novolac refers to the early use of phenolic to replace expensive shellac-based coatings. Novolacs are now those resins made at formaldehyde-to-phenol molar ratios of less than one-to-one. They are generally, though not always, manufactured under acidic conditions. Sulfuric or oxalic acids are most often chosen as catalyst though aromatic sulfonic acids and phosphoric acid are also quite common. Many other acids are used for special purposes. The finished novolac resin is incapable of further polymerization or crosslinking and therefore... 

Free phenol is a major concern in the manufacture of novolac resins. This is true for several reasons. The strongest drivers are probably EPA classification of phenol as a Hazardous Air Pollutant and worker safety concerns. However, free phenol also has significant technical effects on such parameters as melt flow characteristics. In this role, free phenol may undermine the desired effects of a molecular weight design by increasing flow beyond the desired point. Since free phenol is often variable, the effects on flow may also cause variation in product performance from batch to batch. Fig. 18 shows the effects of free phenol on the flow across a series of molecular weights. Free phenol contents between 1 and 10% are commonly seen. In recent years, much work has been aimed at reducing the free phenol. 

Phenolics or phenol-aldehydes include the important commercial phenolic resin bakelite based on phenol and formaldehyde. A one-step process produces resol resin from more than one molecule of formaldehyde per phenol molecule. A two-step process uses an excess of phenol to produce novolacs - resins that have no reactive methylol groups and must be mixed with an aldehyde o undergo further reaction. 

Specific strength Epoxy-novolac Resin matrix for filament wound motor case... 

Figure 7.13 Synthesis of 2,6-dimethylphenol end-capped cresol novolac resin.

Linear novolac resins prepared by reacting para-alkylphenols with paraformaldehyde are of interest for adhesive tackifiers. As expected for step-growth polymerization, the molecular weights and viscosities of such oligomers prepared in one exemplary study increased as the ratio of formaldehyde to para-nonylphenol was increased from 0.32 to 1.00.21 As is usually the case, however, these reactions were not carried out to full conversion, and the measured Mn of an oligomer prepared with an equimolar phenol-to-formaldehyde ratio was 1400 g/mol. Plots of apparent shear viscosity versus shear rate of these p-nonylphenol novolac resins showed non-Newtonian rheological behavior. 

Mandal and Hay28 used MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry to determine the absolute molecular masses and endgroups of 4-phenylphenol novolac resins prepared in xylene or chlorobenzene. Peaks with a mass difference of 44 (the molecular weight of a xylene endgroup) suggested that reactions conducted in xylene included some incorporation of xylene onto the chain ends when a strong acid such as sulfuric acid was used to catalyze the reaction. By contrast, no xylene was reacted into the chain when a milder acid catalyst such as oxalic acid was used. No chlorobenzene was incorporated regardless of the catalyst used. 

The propensity for diy novolac resins to absorb water at room temperature under 100% humidity is another indication that strong hydrogen bonds form. Approximately 15 wt % water is absorbed by the novolac after 4 d, which corresponds to one water molecule per hydroxyl group.38... 

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