In this present study, 3-pentadecyl-phenol was selected as a modifier to prepare a foamable phenolic resin with excellent performance, which was successfully prepared by in situ modification. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR, 13C NMR) were used to test and characterize the molecular structure of the modified resin. The results showed that 3-pentadecyl-phenol successfully modified the molecular structure of phenolic resin with a reduction in the resin gel time. The effect of changing the added amount of 3-pentadecyl-phenol on the mechanical properties, microstructure, and flame retardancy of the modified foam was investigated. The results showed that when the amount of added 3-pentadecyl-phenol was 15% of the total amount of phenol, this resulted in the best toughness of the modified foam, which could be increased to 300% compared to the bending deflection of the unmodified phenolic foam. The cell structure showed that the modified phenolic foam formed a more regular and dense network structure and the closed cell ratio was high. Furthermore, the compressive strength, bending strength, and limited oxygen index were improved, while the water absorption rate was lowered. However, the foam density could be kept below 40 mg/cm³, which does not affect the load.
Keywords: 3-pentadecyl-phenol; foamable phenolic resin; in situ modification; toughness.