Preparation and characterization of phenol formaldehyde/Ag/graphite nanosheet composites

A conductive phenol formaldehyde resin (PF/Ag/NanoG) composite with silver-plated graphite nanosheet filling was prepared. The graphite nanosheet (NanoG) was prepared by sonicating expanded graphite (EG) in an aqueous alcohol solution. The silver-plated graphite nanosheet (Ag-plated NanoG) was obtained by an electroless plating method. The PF/Ag/NanoG composite was synthesized through in situ polymerization. The microstructure of the Ag-plated NanoG was characterized by a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The thickness of the Ag-plated NanoG particles was similar to 500 nm. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) demonstrated that the Ag-plated NanoG was distributed homogeneously in the phenol formaldehyde (PF) resin. The electrical tests showed that the conductivity of the PF/Ag/NanoG composite significantly increased compared with that of the pure PF resin. From the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), it was seen that the Ag/NanoG filler had a beneficial effect on the thermal stability. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.