Development of phenolic resole resin intercalated graphite composites for emi shielding applications and molecular dynamic simulation studies

Abstract

The advances in materials engineering has now made possible the usage of state of the newlineart materials to suit every requirement. The advent of composites created opportunities newlineto develop new materials in economical, convenient and sustainable approaches. newlinePhenolic resins, the first synthetic plastic developed in 1907, are still staying in the newlineforefront of composite and polymer domains. This class of materials possesses the most newlinedemanding composite properties like thermal, mechanical and dimensional stability, newlinesolvent resistance, and so on. Likewise, graphite- a natural allotrope of carbon is also a newlinepromising material extensively used in composites. The development of graphite based newlinematerials has opened up a wide arena of possibilities in applications like polymer newlinecomposites, membrane technology, electro catalysis, fuel cells, batteries and many newlinemore. The main objective of this research is to develop phenolic resole resin composites newlinewith different graphite based materials and to investigate their suitability as coatings in newlineEMI shielding applications. newlineA polymeric level modification of phenolic resole resin with intercalated graphite newlinewas carried out and its effect on mechanical, thermal and flow properties was studied in newlinethe 1 st phase of our research. Intercalated graphite (IG) was prepared via liquid phase newlineintercalation method to incorporate bisulphate ions into natural flake graphite. newlineProperties of polymer composites with different IG concentrations were studied.The newlinethermal and mechanical studies proved the applicability of intercalation method in newlineimproving the performance of resole resin. The addition of intercalated graphite also newlineenhanced the shelf life. Moreover, phenolic resin IG composites showed superior newlineproperties than composites with natural graphite as a modifier due to better dispersion.The poor intermolecular bonding was overcome by the silane modification of