Molecular simulation on the rheological properties of phenolic resins during crosslinking

In this paper, the variations in the viscosity and molecular weight of phenol-formaldehyde resin (PF) before gelation were simulated by the molecular dynamics simulation (MD) method, and a new mathematical model was developed to describe the rheological properties of PF. The modeling of PFs with different degrees of crosslinking was developed by using a new crosslinking program. The simulation results show that the gel point for the PF model is at 54% degree of crosslinking. The mathematical model shows that the higher the temperature of the system is, the lower the initial viscosity of the model. This study provides a new rheological model for controlling the curing process and the final performance of thermosetting resins.