The New Jersey Institute of Technology's
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Title:	High temperature resistant crosslinked phenol, o-chlorophenol and formaldehyde copolymer fiber
Author:	Han, Suh Joon
View Online:	njit-etd1989-040 (viii, 51 pages ~ 1.5 MB pdf)
Department:	Department of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry and Environmental Science
Degree:	Master of Science
Program:	Engineering Science
Document Type:	Thesis
Advisory Committee:	Lei, George Y. (Committee chair) Kebbekus, Barbara B. (Committee member) Tomkins, R. P. T. (Committee member)
Date:	1989-05
Keywords:	Polymers Block copolymers Polymerization Fire resistant polymers Textile fibers, Synthetic
Availability:	Unrestricted
Abstract:	Phenolic copolymer fibers which possess clearly distinguishable physical and chemical properties from other synthetic and natural fibers were prepared. Acid catalyzed condensation polymerization of phenol, formaldehyde and o-chiorophenol was carried out by a two-stage polymerization. Initially, phenol-formaldehyde and o-chlorophenol-formaldehyde oligomers were separately prepared by refluxing the corresponding monomers at 100°C under strong agitation. At the second stage, these two oligomers were combined and vacuum-distilled to form a block copolymer which was then melt spinned into fibers and subsequently cured by succinyl chloride in a mineral spirit. Using a flame test and thermogravimetric analysis, it was found that these cured fibers are hard to ignite and self-extingush. They become charred when exposed to a flame for an extended period of time. Based on the oxygen index, this copolymer fiber has a better flame retardancy than that of Du pont's commercial Nomex fiber.