Curing mechanism of alkaline phenolic resin with organic ester

To study the curing mechanism of alkaline phenolic resin with organic ester, three esters were chosen to react with three systems — alkaline phenolic resin, potassium hydroxide aqueous solution containing phenol, and potassium hydroxide aqueous solution. The variations of pH, heat release and gel pH during the reactions were monitored and measured. Infrared spectroscopy(IR) and thermal gravity analysis(TG) techniques were used to characterize the curing reaction. It was found that organic ester is only partially hydrolyzed and resin can be cured through organic ester hydrolysis process as well as the reaction with redundant organic ester. The sequential curing mechanism of alkaline phenolic resin cured by organic ester was identified as follows: a portion of organic ester is firstly hydrolyzed owing to the effect of the strong alkaline; the gel is then formed after the pH decreases to about 10.8-10.88, meanwhile, the redundant organic ester(i.e. non-hydrolysis ester) starts the curing reaction with the resin. It has also been found that the curing rate depends on the hydrolysis velocity of organic ester. The faster the hydrolysis speed of the ester, the faster the curing rate of the resin.

Application conditions for ester cured alkaline phenolic resin sand

Five organic esters with different curing speeds: propylene carbonate(i.e. high-speed ester A); 1, 4-butyrolactone; glycerol triacetate(i.e. medium-speed ester B); glycerol diacetate; dibasic ester(DBE)(i.e. lowspeed ester C), were chosen to react with alkaline phenolic resin to analyze the application conditions of ester cured alkaline phenolic resin. The relationships between the curing performances of the resin(including pH value, gel pH value, gel time of resin solution, heat release rate of the curing reaction and tensile strength of the resin sand) and the amount of added organic ester and curing temperature were investigated. The results indicated the following:(1) The optimal added amount of organic ester should be 25 wt.%-30 wt.% of alkaline phenolic resin and it must be above 20 wt.%-50 wt.% of the organic ester hydrolysis amount.(2) High-speed ester A(propylene carbonate) has a higher curing speed than 1, 4-butyrolactone, and they were both used as high-speed esters. Glycerol diacetate is not a high-speed ester in alkaline phenolic resin although it was used as a high-speed ester in ester cured sodium silicate sand; glycerol diacetate and glycerol triacetate can be used as medium-speed esters in alkaline phenolic resin.(3) High-speed ester A, medium-speed ester B(glycerol triacetate) and low-speed ester C(dibasic ester, i.e., DBE) should be used below 15 °C, 35 °C and 50 °C, respectively. High-speed ester A or lowspeed ester C should not be used alone but mixed with medium-speed ester B to improve the strength of the resin sand.(4) There should be a suitable solid content(generally 45 wt.%-65 wt.% of resin), alkali content(generally 10 wt.%-15 wt.% of resin) and viscosity of alkaline phenolic resin(generally 50-300 mPa·s) in the preparation of alkaline phenolic resin. Finally, the technique conditions of alkaline phenolic resin preparation and the application principles of organic ester were discussed.