Molecular simulation on the rheological properties of phenolic resins during crosslinking

Abstract

In this paper, the variations in the viscosity and molecular weight of phenol–formaldehyde resin (PF) before gelation were simulated by the molecular dynamics simulation (MD) method, and a new mathematical model was developed to describe the rheological properties of PF. The modeling of PFs with different degrees of crosslinking was developed by using a new crosslinking program. The simulation results show that the gel point for the PF model is at 54% degree of crosslinking. The mathematical model shows that the higher the temperature of the system is, the lower the initial viscosity of the model. This study provides a new rheological model for controlling the curing process and the final performance of thermosetting resins.