An alternative avenue for high‐performance phenolic resin/graphene composite

Abstract Phenolic resin (PR) grafted graphene (G‐PR), synthesized from the versatile graphene modification platform 2‐(3, 4‐dihydroxyphenyl) pyrrolidine grafted pristine graphene (G‐OH), is used to develop high‐performance phenolic composites. Benefiting from good properties of G‐PR, uniform dispersion of G‐PR and strong PR/G‐PR interfacial interaction, G‐PR shows obvious advantages as a filler in improving mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of PR over pristine graphene (pG) and graphene oxide (GO) derivatives. For PR/G‐PR composites, the maximum tensile strength attains 51.4 MPa at 0.5 wt% graphene content. Electrical and thermal conductivities reach to 10⁻³ S·cm⁻¹ and 0.374 W·m⁻¹·k⁻¹ at 5 wt% graphene content, respectively. The decomposition temperature and residue at 800°C separately increase by 61°C and 3.5 wt% at 1 wt% graphene content. In a word, this contribution provides an alternative avenue for preparing high‐performance and multifunctional PR/graphene composites, avoiding the high risk and serious pollution of graphene oxide (GO) avenue.