Phenolic foam

摘要

A phenolic foam is made by foaming and curing a foamable phenolic resin composition that comprises a phenolic resin, a blowing agent, an acid catalyst and an inorganic filler. The blowing agent comprises a blend of chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbon containing 2 to 5 carbon atoms and an aliphatic hydrocarbon containing from 3 to 6 carbon atoms mixed in a ratio of 60/40 to 5/5 parts by weight. The inorganic filler is at least one selected from a metal hydroxide, a metal oxide, a metal carbonate and a metal powder. The phenolic foam has a pH of 5 or more and a water uptake less than 1 kg/m2. A phenolic foam with a higher pH value compared with conventional phenolic foam reduces corrosion risk when in contact with metallic materials. The phenolic foam maintains excellent long-term stable thermal insulation performance, low water uptake and fire resistance performance and by using the said blowing agent, does not harm the environment as an ozone or global warming depleting material.

主权项

1. A composition for forming, when foamed and cured, a phenolic foam product with a pH of 5 or more, a closed cell content of 90% or more, and an aged thermal conductivity of 0.025 W/m·K or less when measured at a mean temperature of 10° C. after heat aging for 175±5 days at 70±2° C. in accordance with the procedure specified in European Standard EN13166: 2001, Annex C, Section C.4.2.3, the composition comprising:
a phenolic resin, a blowing agent, an acid curing catalyst to initiate polymerization of the phenolic resin, an inorganic filler, a plasticiser and an organic modifier for co-reacting with the phenolic resin;wherein
the blowing agent comprises isopropyl chloride and at least one hydrocarbon of butane, pentane, hexane and their isomers in a weight ratio of from 60:40 to 95:5; the inorganic filler consists of a metal hydroxide or metal carbonate with an ionic equilibrium solubility (Ksp) less than 10−8 when measured at 25° C.; and the plasticiser has a molecular structure containing both an ester backbone and a hydroxyl group.