Thermosets fillers

In hand lay-up of thermosets, fillers are not normally used but can be added to modify viscosity, add some stiOhess and reduce cost. A 10 to 20 mil thick gel coat (unreinforced hard surfacing resin, sometimes pigmented) is applied to a waxed mold and is allowed to partially cure to a rubbery state. Promoted and catalyzed resin mix is then applied to the gel coat by brush or spr at about 3 fluid ounces per sqare foot. Reinforcement in the form of a sheet of fibreglass is then pressed into the wet resin, and entrapped air is removed with a disc roller. 

Alkyds are formulated from polyester resins, cross-linking monomers, and fillers of mineral or glass. The unsaturated polyester resins used for thermosetting alkyds are the reaction products of polyfunctional organic alcohols (glycols) and dibasic organic acids. 

Furfural has been used as a component in many resin appHcations, most of them thermosetting. A comprehensive review of the patent Hterature describing these uses is beyond the scope of this review. A few, selected recent patents and journal articles have been referenced. Resins prepared from the condensation products of furfural with urea (47), formaldehyde (48), phenols (49,50), etc, modified by appropriate binders and fillers are described in the technical Hterature for earlier appHcations, see reference 1, which contains many references in an appendix. 

Although it would be desirable to recycle laminate scrap, this has been difficult because of its thermoset nature. However, a 1993 patent (18) suggested a means whereby scrap consisting of cellulose, thermoset resins, and partially reacted resins can be ground to a powder which is used as a filler in a thermoplastic resin. The filled thermoplastic resin is then used for mol ding of various articles. 

Reiaforced plastics may also iaclude fillers (qv), which are iaexpeasive materials such as calcium carboaate used to displace resia and reduce cost curing agents (catalysts), promoters, inhibitors, and accelerators, which affect thermosetting resia cure colorants release agents (qv) to faciUtate removal from the mold and other additives which can impart a wide variety of properties to the finished part, such as fire resistance, electrical conductivity, static dissipation, and ultraviolet resistance. 

Glassy, or vitreous, carbon is a black, shiny, dense, brittle material with a vitreous or glasslike appearance (10,11). It is produced by the controUed pyrolysis of thermosetting resins phenol—formaldehyde and polyurethanes are among the most common precursors. Unlike conventional artificial graphites, glassy carbon has no filler material. The Hquid resin itself becomes the binder. 

By far the preponderance of the 3400 kt of current worldwide phenolic resin production is in the form of phenol-formaldehyde (PF) reaction products. Phenol and formaldehyde are currently two of the most available monomers on earth. About 6000 kt of phenol and 10,000 kt of formaldehyde (100% basis) were produced in 1998 [55,56]. The organic raw materials for synthesis of phenol and formaldehyde are cumene (derived from benzene and propylene) and methanol, respectively. These materials are, in turn, obtained from petroleum and natural gas at relatively low cost ([57], pp. 10-26 [58], pp. 1-30). Cost is one of the most important advantages of phenolics in most applications. It is critical to the acceptance of phenolics for wood panel manufacture. With the exception of urea-formaldehyde resins, PF resins are the lowest cost thermosetting resins available. In addition to its synthesis from low cost monomers, phenolic resin costs are often further reduced by extension with fillers such as clays, chalk, rags, wood flours, nutshell flours, grain flours, starches, lignins, tannins, and various other low eost materials. Often these fillers and extenders improve the performance of the phenolic for a particular use while reducing cost. 

In the early days nearly all thermosetting moulding materials were composites in that they contained fillers such as woodflour, mica, cellulose, etc to increase their strength. However, these were not generally regarded as reinforced materials in the sense that they did not contain fibres. 

Polyurethane, thermoset TSUs have du-rometers range from soft cushion to glass hard with superior wear resistance. Use includes skateboard wheels, solid tires, floor coatings, marine finishes, etc. A major use for soft-foam is automotive bumpers another is upholstery. Property improvements are made with different added fibers and fillers in... 

Thermosetting resins are combined with fibers and other fillers to form composites.19 Thermosetting resins with low viscosities are necessary to wet fibers or... 

Composites consist of two (or more) distinct constituents or phases, which when combined result in a material with entirely different properties from those of the individual components. Typically, a manmade composite would consist of a reinforcement phase of stiff, strong material, embedded in a continuous matrix phase. This reinforcing phase is generally termed as filler. The matrix holds the fillers together, transfers applied loads to those fillers and protects them from mechanical damage and other environmental factors. The matrix in most common traditional composites comprises either of a thermoplastic or thermoset polymer [1]. 

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