The glass‐forming ability and thermal stability of novolac–phenolic resin

Abstract Glass‐forming ability and thermal stability of novolac–phenolic resin with different contents of curing agent hexamethylenetramine (HMTA) are investigated. Melt fragility (M_g) and T_gd (T_gd = T_g/T_d) are proposed to characterize glass‐forming ability and thermal stability of the novolac–phenolic resin, respectively. It is found that M_g has a negative linear relationship with T_gd. The lower M_g represents the better glass‐forming ability of liquid phenolic resin while the higher T_gd represents the better thermal stability of the fully cured phenolic resin. Further more, M_g establishes a kinetic relationship between glass‐forming ability of liquid uncured and thermal stability of fully cured novolac–phenolic resin in terms of comparing with T_gd. POLYM. COMPOS., 2012. © 2011 Society of Plastics Engineers