Thermal Stability of Phenolic Resin Layered Silicate Nanocomposites

The layered silicates commonly used in polymeric nanocomposites belong to the structural family known as the 2:1 phyllosilicates. Kaolinite is an aluminosilicate with anideal composition of Al2Si2O5(OH)4. Van der Waals bonds between the aluminol and Si-O groups link adjacent lamella toeach other, and frequently make the intercalation processes difficult. Only a limited number of polar guest species such as dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) can directly be intercalated [1, 2].In this work the thermal decomposition of phenolic resin/intercalated kaolinite/asbestos cloth nanocomposites areexamined using thermal analysis techniques. The results are compared to traditional asbestos cloth/ phenolic resin composite