Scalable Template Synthesis Of Nano Phenol Phormadehyde Resin Based Composite Materials And Their Functionality

Polymer nanostructured materials have unique physical and chemical properties and play a very important role in people’s daily life. Phenol formaldehyde resin (PFR), as one kind of traditional polymer, has attracted more and more attention with the rapid development of nanotechnology in recent years. Exploring new methods for preparing new PFR based nanocomposites has become a new research focus. In this dissertation, we develop a novel template-directed scalable method to respectively synthsize series of one-dimensional (1D) PFR-based nanocomposites and three-dimensional (3D) resorsinol-formadehyde-resin (RF)/graphene-oxide (GO) composite aerogels. Based on above materials, we realize their functionalization and explore their potential applications in various fields, such as environmental, biological and energy conversion field. The detailed results can be summarized as follows:1. A facile template-directed hydrothermal coating approach for scalable synthesis of PFR-based1D nanomaterials has been successfully developed. By using different1D nanomaterials (ultrathin tellurium (Te) nanowires, short Te nanorods and Ag nanowires) as templates, various nanocables with PFR as shells can be prepared. Among them, we systematically investigate the effects of the reactant concentration, reaction time and temperature on the morphologies of Te@PFR nanocables. Then, we propose the formation mechanism of the PFR-based1D nanostructures in the present system. In addition, using NaOH to remove the Te cores, we can prepare pure PFR nanofibers. This successful scalable synthesis laid a good foundation for the future application of these PFR-based1D nanamaterials.2. Based on the as-synthesized1D PFR-based nanocomposites, we develop their multifunctional applications in water treatment, photothermal therapy and building-up superhydrophobic surface, etc. Due to the abundant surface oxygen-containing groups (-OH), benzene ring structure and nitrogen-containing groups, pure PFR nanofibers exhibit great adsorption performance on Congo Red and hexavalent chromium. Moreover, the corresponding PFR nanofiber membranes can be prepared by using filtration method which can rapidly remove contaminants (Congo Red) in a flowing aqueous solution, which demonstrates that our synthesized novel PFR nanofibers have potential applications in the treatment of polluted water. On the other hand, through the replacement reaction between AuCl4-1and Te nanowires, a novel peapodlike Au@PFR nanofiber which has excellent performance in photothermal therapy can be synthesized. In addition, owning to special morphology of PFR nanonecklaces and their good dispersibility in aqueous solution, we develop a facile spray-coating technique to construct superhydrophobic surfaces on a variety of substrates.3. We first develop a low-temperature scalable template strategy for the synthesis of a new kind of RF-GO composite gel with tunable densities and mechanical properties. In the fabrication pocess, GO sheets act as template skeletons and metal ions (Co2+, Ni2+, or Ca2+) are used as catalysts and linkers. Particularly, under appropriate reaction conditions, we can produce the compressible RF-GO-metal aerogels. Compared to traditional fragile and brittle RF aerogels, the RF-based composite aerogels can tolerate a strain as high as80%and quickly recover their original morphology after the compression has been released. The synergistic effects of GO and the metal ions introduced in the synthesis contributed to improvement of the mechanical behavior of the as-prepared RF-based aerogels. Owing to their high compressibility, such aerogels have potentials as solid adsorbents for water purification.4. Based on the above RF-GO-Co composite aerogels, we fabricate a new kind of cobalt-containg carbon aerogels with ultralow-density (9mg/cm3) and suerparamagnetism through pyrolysis under high temperature. We also explored their potential applications in oil-spill cleanup and electrocatalysis. The carbon aerogels are consisted of3D interconnected sheets with a thickness of50nm. The ultralow-density and hydrophobicity of these carbon aerogels endow them a high adsorption capacity (the maximum is132timens its own weight) when used as adsorbents for various oils and organic solvents. Besides, due to the presence of Co-containing nanoparticles on the sheets of the aerogels, such aerogels show good catalytic activity and durability for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).