Thermal stability and thermal degradation study of phenolic resin modified by cardanol

Phenolic resin can include any of various synthetic thermosetting resins, such as Novolac, which is obtained by the reaction of phenols with simple aldehydes, such as formaldehyde. Phenolics can be used to make molded products including pool balls, laboratory counter tops, and as coatings and adhesives. Novolac phenolic resins modified by cardanol are used in many industrial applications as structural adhesives, coatings and advanced composite matrices in aerospace and electronic industries, but few studies have examined their thermal degradation. In this work, phenol-cardanol-formaldehyde (PCF) novolac resins were synthesized; the products obtained were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis. The results indicate that the degradation of PCF and phenolic resins (phenol-formaldehyde (PF)) shows a difference related to their molecular structures, and PF has a 20% weight loss occurring at 460 degrees C, whereas the weight loss of PCF resin is 20% at 390 degrees C, which shows that the high thermal stability of pure PF remains in the temperature range of high relevance.