The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
Electronic Theses & Dissertations Project

Title:	Ammonia catalized phenol formaldehyde resins
Author:	Ehrgott, Murlin Charles
View Online:	njit-etd1956-007 (vi, 37 pages ~ 1.9 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Chemical Engineering
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Chemical Engineering
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Bradley, James A. (Committee chair) Mantell, C. L. (Committee member) Kreps, Saul I. (Committee member)
Date:	1956-06
Keywords:	Phenols
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	The literature on ammonia-catalyzed phenol-formaldehyde resins is reviewed and critical comparisons are made of the manner in which the ammonia-catalyzed resins differ from both the alkali- and acid-catalyzed resins. Intermediate products formea during the initial stapes of the ammonia-catalyzed phenol-formaldehyde reactions, as reported in the literature, are tabulated and % N contents are calculated. Experimental determinations of N content of resins with molar ratios of 1:1.25 phenol to formaldehyde with ammonia at 0.2, 0.5, and 1.0 moles per mole of phenol, show that at the 0.2 molar ratio of ammonia, all the N enters into the resin and remains during the curing of the resin. At 0.5 and higher molar ratios of ammonia, only a portion of the N enters the resin. At low bakes (conversion of "A" to "B" stage;, the N increases, probably by loss of H2O or CH2O from the resin. In the fully-cured resins, N content of all the resins based on 1:1.25 phenol to formaldehyde drops to the same level as in the resin formed using 0.2 moles of ammonia, i.e. (2.75 ± .2% N). When the formaldehyde ratio is increased to 2.0 moles per mole of phenol, and using 1.0 mole of ammonia, the N content of the fully-cured resin is 4.63%, an increase proportional to the increase in formaldehyde.