Phenolic Foam Research Articles

Characterization and its curing behaviors of rigid phenolic foams based on cardanol

Cardanol/phenol-based foaming resol resins were prepared successfully by reacting formaldehyde with cardanol/phenol. Phenolic foams were fabricated with the above foaming resol resin and certain foaming agents. Two kinds of resol resins were characterized with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, rheological analysis and Scanning electron microscope. Meanwhile, the nonisothermal curing reactions of these resol resins were studied in detail using a dynamic Differential scanning calorimetry technique at a series of heating rates. The global activation energies of the reactions were determined with the Ozawa methods. The results indicated that the peak temperatures of the exothermic reactions and global activation energies of cardanol-based foaming resol resin were higher than those of phenol-based foaming resol resin, which indicated that the more complex molecular structure of cardanol-based foaming resol resin has a negative effect on the curing speed of resin.

Determination of the Long-Term Thermal Performance of Foam Insulation Materials through Heat and Slicing Acceleration.

Foam insulation materials are widely used in the construction industry due to their low thermal conductivity attributable to their microstructures and their low-conductivity blowing agents and affordability. In this study, we evaluate how the thermal performance of foam insulation materials used for the exterior walls of buildings, viz., extruded polystyrene (XPS), polyisocyanurate (PIR), and phenolic foam (PF), age over the life cycle of a building. To compare the aging of thermal performance during the life cycle of a building, each material was tested at 70 and 110 °C and with slicing acceleration according to EN and ISO standards. The thermal conductivity of each foam insulation material was measured using a heat flow meter at an operating temperature of 23 °C and converted into thermal resistance values. Different foam insulation materials have different aging procedures according to material-specific EN standards, while ISO 11561 applies the same procedure to all material classifications. Upon comparing the aged values according to ISO and EN standards to the initial values, the analysis showed a change rate of 23 to 26% in PIR and 18 to 20% in PF. In XPS, a rate of change of 10 to 23.8% was calculated. Our results indicated that the slicing acceleration induced a thermal resistance reduction rate about three times faster than aging at 70 °C. However, the long-term changed thermal resistance values of the foam insulation material applied via the calculating procedure specified in the ISO and EN standards were similar.

Phenolic Foams Toughened with Triethylene Glycol by In Situ Polymerization and Prepolymerization Processes

The current work presents the study of the toughening effect of in situ polymerization modification process (In-MP) and prepolymerization modification process (Pre-MP) on triethylene glycol (TEG)-modified phenolic foams (PFs). TEG in situ polymerization-modified phenolic resin (T-In-PR) and TEG prepolymerization-modified phenolic resin (T-Pre-PR) with different molecular structures have been synthesized by two processes using TEG as a modifier. The comparison of the molecular structure and properties of the resins shows that the molecular weight distribution of T-Pre-PR is uniform and its basic properties of resin are better than T-In-PR. The number of benzene ring linkage bridges in the T-Pre-PR structure increases from three to four, which can improve the toughness while stabilizing the intermolecular connection strength. The TEG-modified PFs prepared with TEG-modified phenolic resins exhibit excellent toughness. The fracture displacement of T-Pre-PF was 85.13% higher than those of ordinary PFs, and the pulverization rate was 55.85% lower than those of ordinary PFs. Compared with T-In-PF, the cell shapes of T-Pre-PF were uniform polygonal structures and formed a stable honeycomb-like structure. The cell size distribution of T-Pre-PF was more concentrated than those of T-In-PF and ordinary PFs, and the level of damage of cell wall was low. The maximum bending strength of T-Pre-PF was 0.263 MPa, and the maximum compression strength was 0.160 MPa, which were higher than those of T-In-PF. The findings demonstrate that Pre-MP is more suitable for the preparation of PFs with internal toughening modification by TEG than In-MP.

Fire retardant performance, toxicity and combustion characteristics, and numerical evaluation of core materials for sandwich panels

According to fire accident statistics, fires in buildings are increasing. The flame-retardant performance of insulation materials is considered an important factor for preventing the spread of fire and ensuring evacuation. This study evaluated the flame-retardant performance and combustion characteristics of four types of organic thermal insulation used as core materials in sandwich panels. The flame-retardant performance evaluation based on total heat release and heat release rate revealed that phenolic foam (PF) satisfied the criteria for non-combustible grade insulation. An analysis of the hazardous gases released while combustion of the four insulation materials indicated that a significant amount of CO was released—an average of 19,000 ppm or higher—in the rigid urethan foam (PIR) and spray-type polyurethane foam (SPU). The fractional effective dose (FED) value was derived from the gas analysis results according to ISO 13344. PIR and SPU had an average FED value of 2.0 or higher and were identified as very dangerous in the case of fire accidents. Moreover, the evacuation time in the case of a fire in a warehouse-type building was comprehensively analyzed considering the material, size, and height for the four types of insulation. PIR was the most vulnerable to fire, and for PF, the danger limit was not reached until the end of the simulation.

Hybrid thermal management strategy with PCM and insulation materials for pulsed-power source controller in extreme oil-well thermal environment

• Thermal management strategy for PPS controller are experimentally investigated. • Metal PCM can lower thermal resistance from 1.7 to 1.1 K/W compared to paraffin. • Silica aerogels can alleviate heat transfer from external environment by 59.9%. • Chip operating time can be prolonged when using present thermal management strategy. The application of pulsed-power source (PPS) can effectively improve the efficiency of shale oil exploitation. However, the severe underground environment with high temperature, pressure and viscosity will bring great challenges to electronic components. This study presents a hybrid thermal management strategy (HTMS) for the PPS controller. The heat storage unit filled with phase change materials (PCMs) is applied for internal thermal management, and the performance of PPS is evaluated when paraffin and low melting temperature alloy (LMTA) are respectively used as PCMs. On the other hand, glass wool, phenolic foam and silica aerogels are implemented to construct a sandwich structure for external thermal protection. Results show that the LMTA can extend the safe operating time of equipment from 50 min to over 250 min in comparison to paraffin while lowering the average equivalent thermal resistance from 1.7 K/W to about 1.1 K/W. Besides, the application of glass wool and phenolic foam is eligible to extend the operating time by 63 % and 57 %, respectively, with external ambient temperature at 100 °C. After replacing by the silica aerogels, the thermal insulation effect can be further improved. As the result, with the application of HTMS, the PPS controller is tested under more severe thermal environment with ambient temperature of 150 °C. It is noticed that the operating time prolongs to 50 min within the maximum junction temperature of 80 °C.

Production of Phenolic Foams Based on Phenol-Formaldehyde Oligomers of Reduced Toxicity and Material Consumption

This article presents the results of studies considering the possibility of obtaining products based on phenol-formaldehyde oligomers of reduced toxicity, material consumption and corrosive activity. This is achieved by removing free phenol and formaldehyde monomers from the foaming composition and by more complete implementation of hydrodynamic processes during foaming of the composition. The article includes the results of studies on finding the ratio of the initial components and its effect on the corrosive activity of finished products. It is also considered the determination of the dependences of the toxicity and material consumption of phenolic foams on the pressure gradient of the foaming composition and the environment. For the research, the FRV-1A resole prepolymer and the VAG-3 foaming-hardening agent were used as raw materials. The content of phenol and formaldehyde monomers was determined by gas chromatography. In this work, the diagram of installation is developed and presented. It consists of a high-pressure machine, a mold, a vacuum pump, a vacuum gauge, air supply and air removal pipes. The results indicate that ensuring the formation of a cellular structure of phenolic foam in the low-pressure zone makes it possible to obtain heat-insulating products based on phenol-formaldehyde oligomers of reduced toxicity, material consumption and corrosive activity.

Technical feasibility of minicutting of different portions of the branch to produce clonal seedlings of Aloysia citrodora

Seedling production using the minicutting technique enables quick and efficient plants formation. However, there are no reports of application for Aloysia citrodora (lemon verbena) and the ideal portion of the branch. This study aimed to evaluate the production of seedlings from minicuttings taken from different parts of the branch.The experiment was performed in a completely randomized design. Three treatments consisted of minicuttings taken from other branch portions (basal, median, and apical), divided into two experiments (Exp1 and Exp2).Exp1 was carried out in a sub-irrigation system in phenolic foam, evaluating rooting percentage, length of the longest root, root number, number of shoots, number of leaves, and total dry mass. Exp2 used the minicuttings from the previous experiment, kept for another 35 days in pots to assess the quality of the seedlings, evaluating plant length, number of shoots, and leaves. For Exp1, 35 days after cutting, there was a higher percentage of survival, size of the longest root, number of the root, number of shoots, number of leaves, and total dry mass, in those minicuttings produced from the basal and median portions, being the exact behavior of Exp2, 35 days after transplantation to pots. The minicutting proved to be an efficient method for producing Aloysia citrodoraseedlings, when removed from the basal or median portion, standing out for a higher percentage of survival, better growth, and initial development and post-transplantation of the produced seedlings.

Toxicity characteristics and fire retardant performance of commercially manufactured organic insulation materials for building applications

Traditionally, insulation materials have been developed to prevent heat loss or gain in buildings. Polymer compounds such as polyurethane, polystyrene, and polyethylene have been used to improve the performance of insulation materials during the modern industrialization process. However, because most insulating materials based on complex organic chemicals are combustible, they are susceptible to fire, and there are limitations such as the emission of harmful chemicals. The reason for the high number of casualties caused by insulation materials in building fires is that insulation materials based on complex chemical substances generate a large number of toxic gases, which causes suffocation. Therefore, the fire resistance performance of five types of insulation materials used in actual construction sites was evaluated in this study. Based on the total heat release (THR) and heat release rate (HRR), phenolic foam (PF) was the insulation material that satisfied the criteria of the non-combustible grade as a result of the flame-retardant performance evaluation. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) spectroscopy was used to perform a quantitative and qualitative evaluation of gaseous hazardous substances generated during the combustion of insulating materials by ISO 19702. The Fractional effective dose (FED) value was derived using the results of the analyses of eight gases by ISO 13344.

Nitrogen-doped carbon derived from composite of phenolic and amino foam: Effect of synthesis processes on physicochemical properties and super-capacitive performances

Phenolic resin was thermally cured on the melamine-based amino foam fiber to construct a nitrogen-containing composite. By employing the composite as the precursor, nitrogen doped microporous carbons were synthesized by two process schemes. One process was two-step of pre-carbonization and further activation (TNC). Another route was one-step of simultaneous activation and carbonization (ONC). Physicochemical properties of resulting carbons were characterized, and super-capacitive performances were also examined. Specific surface area of TNC and ONC were 1657 and 1223 m2 g−1, respectively. The doped nitrogen in the corresponding carbons were determined to be 2.6 and 3.1 at.%. Using the TNC and ONC as electroactive materials, in a three-electrode test configuration in 6.0 M KOH aqueous electrolyte, the electrode harvests the specific capacitance of 316.4 and 303.8 F g−1 at 1.0 A g−1 current density, respectively. When the current density increased to 10 A g−1, retention rates of the corresponding specific capacitance were 88.7 and 85.9%, respectively. In the symmetric-electrode system in aqueous electrolyte, an electrode enclosed the TNC exhibited a specific capacitance of 269.7 F g−1 at the current density of 0.5 A g−1. The assembled simulated supercapacitor delivered an energy density of 9.6 W h kg−1 with the power density of 124.9 W kg−1. The purpose of the present work was to clarify the effect of preparation procedures on the physicochemical properties and super-capacitive performances of porous carbons. Findings demonstrated that the porous carbon prepared by two-step of pre-carbonization and then reactivation showing larger specific surface area and better super-capacitive performance than that of synthesized via one-step of in situ carbonization and activation.

Phenolic syntactic foams: Low-density composites for structural and thermostructural applications

Syntactic foams, low density composites consisting of hollow microballoons or microspheres dispersed in a matrix, find application in various fields. The properties of these light weight composites can be easily tuned by suitably selecting the matrix and the hollow microsphere filler and their composition. Among the various matrices employed in syntactic foams, phenolic resins have enticed the researchers owing to their salient features viz. high thermal stability, high char yield, structural integrity etc. This review gives an overview of phenolic syntactic foams with a focus on various phenolic resin based syntactic foams and modified syntactic foams. Finally, applications of phenolic syntactic foams are also covered.

Carbon Foam-Reinforced Polyimide-Based Carbon Aerogel Composites Prepared via Co-Carbonization as Insulation Material.

The weak inherent non-covalent interactions between carbon aerogel backbone nanoparticles obtained by the pyrolysis of conventional organic aerogel can lead to poor mechanical properties. When applied in the thermal protection system of a high-speed spacecraft, the preparation of carbon aerogel insulation materials with excellent formability and high mechanical strength still remains a huge challenge. This work reports an efficient approach for fabricating carbon foam-reinforced carbon aerogel composites by compounding the nanoporous polyimide aerogel into the microporous pre-carbonized phenolic resin-based carbon foam via vacuum impregnation, gelatinizing and co-carbonization. Benefiting from the co-shrinkage caused by co−carbonization, the thermal insulation capacity of the carbon aerogel and the formability of the pre−carbonized foam are efficiently utilized. The shrinkage, density and carbon yield of aerogels, pre-carbonized foams and the composites at different temperatures were measured to analyze the formation of the interfacial gap within the composite. The co-carbonization mechanism of the polyimide aerogels and phenolic resin-based pre-carbonized foams was analyzed through XPS, TG-MS, and FT-IR. Among the prepared samples, CF30-CPI-1000 °C with small interfacial gaps showed the lowest thermal conductivity, which was as low as 0.56 W/(m·K) at 1900 °C, and the corresponding compressive strength and elastic modulus were as high as 0.532 MPa and 9.091 MPa, respectively.

Acoustic properties of commercially available thermal insulators − An experimental study

Thermal insulators are used structural applications, such as walls, floors, doors, roofs, duct wrappings, machine and wall linings, and vehicle envelopes. There is very little scientific comparative research about the acoustic performance of thermal insulator materials. The purpose of our study was to compare various acoustic properties of insulator materials to improve comprehensive understanding. Thirteen commercially available insulator types produced by several manufacturers were studied for thicknesses 50, 100, and 200 mm. The materials were stone wool, glass wool, cellulose, wood fiber, expanded polystyrene, polyisocyanurate, phenol foam, and cellular glass. Six acoustic quantities were measured: sound reduction index of bare insulator, sound reduction index of encapsulated insulator (insulator between two boards), sound absorption coefficient, airflow resistivity, dynamic stiffness, and reduction of impact sound pressure level in a floating floor. The acoustic performance differed significantly between insulator types for each quantity. The value range for the abovementioned six quantities for 100-mm thick insulator was extremely large: 10–27 dB, 33–52 dB, 0.20–0.78, 3.0–2700 kPa s/m2, 1.5–730 MN/m3, and 15–36 dB, respectively. Closed-pore materials usually carried worse acoustic properties than open-pore materials. Unexpectedly, lower thermal conductivity was associated with worse acoustic performance of two acoustic quantities. The study is the broadest acoustic investigation of thermal insulators because of the large number of studied acoustic quantities and insulator types. The study provides strong evidence that the choice of thermal insulator material plays an important role in the acoustic properties of the structural application. Manufacturers should consider declaring all six acoustic quantities to facilitate design.

Effect of formaldehyde to phenol molar ratio on combustion behavior of phenolic foam

The effects of the formaldehyde to phenol molar ratio (F/P) on the combustion behavior of phenolic foams were discussed. Phenolic foams have been prepared with different F/P of resole resin. FTIR, TG and SEM were used for assessment of the molecular structure, thermal stability, and cell structure of phenolic foam (PF) analysis, respectively. It was found that the higher the F/P, the more inflammables content in the PF that promoted the formation of the char layer, and the higher the LOI of PF. Although the closed cell proportion of PF decreases with the increase of F/P, the effect of the open and closed cell proportion on the LOI of PF was much lower than that of the content of inflammables when there was little difference in cell size. It is worth noting that the smoldering time and smoldering velocity of PF also increased with the increase of F/P. When F/P exceeds 2.3, a large number of open-cell structures appear in the PF, resulting in a phenomenon of smoldering to burnout. The relationship between smoldering velocity and F/P can be calculated by an Arrhenius type expression. Arrhenius-type expression calculation showed that when the F/P reached 2.3, the smoldering velocity increased sharply, reaching a maximum of 0.193 mm/s.

Preparation of a Ceramifiable Phenolic Foam and Its Ceramization Behavior.

Ceramifiable phenolic foam (GC-PF) with a low ceramization temperature has been prepared by incorporation of low melting point glass frits (LMG) containing B2O3 and Na2O as main components into a phenolic resin matrix. Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, X-ray diffractometry, and scanning electron microscopy were used for assessment of the structure, phase composition, and morphology of GC-PF before and after combustion analysis, respectively. A glassy ceramic protective layer is formed when GC-PF is exposed to flame or a high temperature environment. The presence of LMG not only reduces the level of defects in the phenolic foam cell wall (gas escape pore), but also promotes the generation of a glassy ceramic protective layer that could inhibit heat feedback from the combustion zone and reduce the rate of formation of volatile fuel fragments. Thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry were used to establish that GC-PF exhibits excellent thermal stability. Limiting oxygen index (LOI) determination suggests that GC-PF displays good flame retardancy. The LOI of GC-PF was as high as 45.6%, and the char residue at 900 °C was six times greater than that for ordinary phenolic foam (O-PF). The area of the raw material matrix of GC-PF after combustion for 60 s was about 1.7 times larger than that for O-PF. A possible mode of formation of glassy ceramics has been proposed.

Sistemas semi-hidropônico e ebb-and-flow para cultivo de copo-de-leite

Abstract The soilless cultivation of plants is an alternative for the production of flowers with high quality. Calla lily is normally produced on soil benches, but have shown some limitations as bacterial infections occur. One alternative may be a soilless cultivation. Hence, experiments were conducted with the objective to evaluate the development of calla lily in two types of hydroponic production systems. The semihydroponic system was tested using as substrates or growing media such as, coconut fiber, sand, vermiculite, and phenolic foam sheets. For the other system, ebb-and-flow, the substrates tested were vermiculite, coconut fiber, and expanded clay. Two different nutritional solutions were tested in both systems. in the semihydroponic system. In general, calla lily was adapted and showed a good development in a soilless cultivation. The best initial development of the calla lily was provided using vermiculite and sand as substrates on semihydroponic. And for the ebb-and-flow system, coconut fiber induced better development. As conclusion, hydroponic cultivation systems are efficient for the initial development of calla lily. The recommended substrates are those with lower porosity, such as sand, vermiculite, and coconut fiber.

Investigation on the Mechanical and Thermal Insulation Properties of Hollow Microspheres/Phenolic Syntactic Foams

Hollow microspheres are widely used in syntactic foam as a lightweight filling material. Hollow glass microspheres (HGM) and hollow phenolic microspheres (HPM) were added to the phenolic resin to prepare phenolic syntactic foams. Then the mechanical properties, thermal insulation properties, and thermal property stability of them were studied. The mechanical test result shows that the flexural strength of phenolic syntactic foam gradually decreases with the increasing volume fraction of microspheres at room temperature. When the volume fraction of HGM is 20%, the specific strength of phenolic syntactic foam can rise to 0.0334 Nm/kg. HGM reduces the density of the phenolic syntactic foam and remains at high strength. In addition, the thermal conductivity of phenolic syntactic foam decreases with the increasing volume fraction of the hollow microspheres, indicating that the microspheres can effectively improve the thermal insulation performance of the phenolic syntactic foam. Meanwhile, the thermal conductivity of phenolic syntactic foam also increases as the heat treatment temperature rises. In addition, the thermal insulation performance of phenolic syntactic foam containing HGM is better than that containing HPM. Thermal analysis experiments show that the thermal weight loss rate becomes slower as the content of HGM increases. Therefore, HGM improves the thermal stability of the containing phenolic syntactic foam. However, the HPM reduces the thermal decomposition temperature and the thermal stability of the phenolic syntactic foam. This work provides the technical basis for applying phenolic syntactic foam as a heat insulation material.

Experimental study on the influence of temperature and humidity on the thermal conductivity of building insulation materials

At present, thermal conductivity is usually taken as a constant value in the calculation of building energy consumption and load. However, in the actual use of building materials, they are exposed to the environment with continuously changing temperature and relative humidity. The thermal conductivity of materials will inevitably change with temperature and humidity, leading to deviations in the estimation of energy consumption in the building. Therefore, in this study, variations in the thermal conductivity of eight common building insulation materials (glass wool, rock wool, silica aerogel blanket, expanded polystyrene, extruded polystyrene, phenolic foam, foam ceramic and foam glass) with temperature (in the range of 20–60 °C) and relative humidity (in the range of 0–100%) were studied by experimental methods. The results show that the thermal conductivity of these common building insulation materials increased approximately linearly with increasing temperature with maximum growth rates from 3.9 to 22.7% in the examined temperature range. Due to the structural characteristics of materials, the increasing thermal conductivity of different materials varies depending on the relative humidity. The maximum growth rates of thermal conductivity with humidity ranged from 8.2 to 186.7%. In addition, the principles of selection of building insulation materials in different humidity regions were given. The research results of this paper aim to provide basic data for the accurate value of thermal conductivity of building insulation materials and for the calculation of energy consumption.

Spatial-type skeleton induced Geobacter enrichment and tailored bio-capacitance of electroactive bioanode for efficient electron transfer in microbial fuel cells

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) is a promising alternative to energy-intensive conventional wastewater technology. However, poor electron transfer efficiency, low coulombic recovery (CR), and high capital cost highly restricted its practical application. In this work, spatial electroactive biofilm is successfully developed on the carbonaceous skeleton derived from phenolic foam, which highly improved the bio-capacitance and Geobacter abundance of bioanode. Compared with carbon cloth (CC) anode, the optimal spatial electroactive biofilm (3DP_900) enriched the Geobacter abundance up to 56.8% from 17.2%, and obtained an extraordinary electroactive biomass loading of about 339 ± 63 μg cm−2 and a remarkable bio-capacitance of about 3.4 F. In general, spatial biofilm highly reduces the barriers to electron transfer (Rct) and mass transfer (Rd) in anodic substrate oxidation reaction and obtains the lowest Rct of 2.0 ± 0.2 Ω and Rd of 35 ± 3.3 Ω in 3DP_900, which also supports the highest power density at 0.347 ± 0.027 W m−2 and the highest CR at 69.2%. More importantly, due to its mature preparation technology, carbonized phenolic foam (2 cm thick pieces) reduces the capital cost of electrode preparation by three orders of magnitude from 1157.3 USD m−2 of CC to 5.2 USD m−2. Overall, this work offers an effective and scalable electrode to achieve high substrate utilization rate and energy recovery efficiency, and considers the economic cost of electrode fabrication for the further construction of pilot-scale MFCs equipment.

Modified hydroponics and phenolic foam as technological innovations in the production of coffee seedlings from cuttings

Brazilian coffee production represents an important activity in the country’s agricultural sector and, for this reason, it requires innovative technologies for the production of seedlings, which is one of the most important inputs in crop implantation. Thus, plant cloning by cutting, mineral nutrition via modified hydroponics and the use of alternative substrates appear as technological innovations for seedling production. This study evaluated the production of clonal coffee seedlings in a modified hydroponic system in comparison to the conventional climate-controlled greenhouse system, using vermiculite and phenolic foam as alternative substrates. At the end of the experiment, the seedlings were analyzed for growth (height, stem diameter, number of total leaves, leaf area, root area, shoot and root dry matter) and physiological (chlorophyll content and stomatal conductance) characteristics. For the statistical analysis, a completely randomized design was used in a factorial scheme 2 (types of substrate) x 2 (cultivation systems) with six replications and ten plants per plot. The innovative modified hydroponic system leads to a greater growth of coffee seedlings produced by cuttings in tubes with vermiculite compared to those produced in conventional systems. The substrate phenolic foam can be used alternatively in the air-conditioned greenhouse system. However, in the modified hydroponic system, it is not indicated, as it causes total seedling mortality.

Comparison of dehydration methods for untreated lignin resole by hot air oven and vacuum rotary evaporator to synthesize lignin-based phenolic foam

We investigate two different dehydration methods to determine their suitability for preparing resoles for foam synthesis. A simplified process for synthesizing lignin foam (LF) from lignin resole (LR) dehydrated in a hot air oven (HAO) is compared with that dehydrated using a vacuum rotary evaporator (VRE). First, the LR formulation is prepared by mixing phenol with untreated lignin (0%–15% by weight), and subsequently, the prepared LRs are dehydrated using an HAO and a VRE. We find that for the same dehydration time, both techniques yield LRs with the same chemical compositions; however, the HAO technique affords a moisture removal of 13–17% by weight, whereas the VRE technique removes 9–12% moisture by weight. The LR obtained by the HAO is more viscous and maintains a circular shape after being dropped on a plate. In our experimental synthesis of LF containing VRE resole, biofoam is not formed owing to insufficient viscosity, whereas biofoam is obtained with the HAO resole. The synthesized LF exhibits a density range of 44.96–85.68 kg/m3 and a compressive strength of 103.28–152.27 kPa. Scanning electron microscopy investigations show that the morphology of the foam is a closed-cell structure. The simplified synthesis of LF from the HAO-treated resole offers significant advantages over the complexity of the conventional VRE approach in terms of equipment cost and energy consumption. The resulting foam exhibits a thermal stability and thermal performance comparable with the counterpart properties of phenolic foam.