Fabrication And Characterization Of Graphene/Phenolic Nanocomposites

Phenolic formaldehyde (PF) is preferred in a wide range of applications in commodity and construction industry, friction materials field and high-techno logy aerospace industry. This recognition emerges from the fact that PF has several desirable characteristics, such as high mechanical strength, electrical insulation, flame-retard ant resistance, dimensional stability, excellent ablative properties. Especially taken as matrix resin for friction composites, it is most important to improve toughness and thermostability of PF. Herein we report a facile in situ synthesis of reduced graphene oxide (RGO)-phenol formaldehyde (PF) composits with an interactive oxidation-reduction reaction. This work is depicted in two parts:The first part is that interaction oxidation-reduction reaction between graphene oxide and phenol. As we all know, phenol, as a typical monomer of PF, has certain reducibility. We expect that phenol can reduce GO to RGO during in situ polymerization without the addition of other reducing agents, and eventually RGO-PF composites are obtained with excellent performance. In this chapter, we first proved the reduction ability of phenol on GO and investigated the interactive oxidation-reduction mechanism with the help of a fluorescence spectrophotometer.The following part presents a facile synthesis of RGO-PF composites by in situ intercalate polymerization with interactive oxidation-reduction of phenol and GO. With the help of transmission electron microscopy (TEM), we investigate the grafting mechanism of RGO-PF composites. The dispersibility of GO in RGO-PF composites is characterized based on microscopic morphologies, and the thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties of RGO-PF composites with different RGO contents are further explored.Finally, we can obtain RGO-PF composites with excellent performance. The noncovalently adsorbed phenol on the RGO surface can not only serve as an effective reductant but also participate in the in situ polymerization and guide the formation of PF on the RGO surface.