Evaluation of B4C Particles Effects on Curing and Thermal Stability of Resole Resin

This work intends to study the effect of boron carbide (B4C) as filler (1 wt. %) on thermal stability of the resole resin. Thermal properties was studied by means of thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) to evaluate char yield and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) to evaluate the resin curing behavior and boron carbide effects on curing reaction heat. Results showed increase of char yield and decrease of curing reaction heating the presence of B4C. The results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive x ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) revealed conversion of the B4C to B2O3 which resulted in volume expansion and compensation of the resin shrinkage, which led to the high thermal stability of the compounded resin.