Reinforce the mechanical toughness, heat resistance, and friction and wear resistance of phenolic resin via constructing self-assembled hybrid particles of graphite oxide and zirconia as nano-fillers

Phenolic resin modified by common physical methods cannot be applied directly in the military and aerospace fields due to its brittleness, poor heat resistance, and poor friction and wear resistance. Here, a strategy to significantly reinforce these properties was proposed by constructing self-assembled hybrid particles of graphite oxide (GO) and zirconia (ZrO2) nanoparticles to modify phenolic resin. The bending and impact test results showed that the bending strength, bending modulus, and impact strength maximumly increased by 73.6%, 52.3%, and 115.3%, respectively. The thermogravimetric analysis showed that the residual carbon rate increased by 19.7%, and the temperature Td, max at the fastest thermal decomposition rate increased by 18 °C. The friction and wear tests showed that the friction coefficient and wear rate reduced by 27.7% and 64.8%, respectively. The modified phenolic resin has met the applicable standards in military and aerospace fields. This strategy is also applicable to the performance reinforcement of other polymers. Strategy to significantly achieve multifunctional collaborative enhancement for phenolic resin by constructing self-assembled hybrid particles of graphite oxide as nano-fillers