Synthesis, Characterization, and Thermal Pyrolysis Mechanism of Resorcinol‐Formaldehyde Resin‐Containing Phenylboronic Acid

In the present study, a resin is synthesized from resorcinol and formaldehyde in the presence of phenylboronic acid. Properties of resins such as free formaldehyde content, total solid content, density, gelation time, viscosity are determined. The chemical structure of the resorcinol‐formaldehyde resin and the resorcinol‐formaldehyde resin containing phenylboronic acid is confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The thermal stability and curing behaviors of the polymers are investigated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry, respectively. Modification of the resorcinol‐formaldehyde resin with a boron source, phenylboronic acid results in a certain increase in thermal stability with a higher residual weight. The 6% PBA loaded polymer has the highest thermal efficiency, so the thermal behavior of it is investigated by curing at different temperatures. The 80 °C/4 h curing method is the most reasonable for energy savings. In differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis, a 6 wt% PBA loading ratio was determined as the optimum value according to the energy requirements.