Improvements of heat resistance and adhesive property of condensed poly-nuclear aromatic resin via epoxy resin modification

A bisphenol epoxy resin was used as modifier to increase the heat resistance of condensed poly-nuclear aromatic （COPNA） resin. The basic properties of COPNA resin and modified resin were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy （FT-IR）, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy （1H-NMR）, vapor pressure osmometry （VPO） and elemental analysis （EA）. Average structural parameters of resins were calculated by the improved Brown-Ladner method, and heat resistance of resins was tested by thermogravimetric analysis （TGA）. The chemical structure, mechanical properties and heat resistivity of the resin/graphite composites prepared with different resins were compared. The results show that the adhesive property and heat resistance of COPNA resin can be remarkably improved by addition of 5 wt.% epoxy resin. The reason is that the reactions between epoxy groups of epoxy resin and hydroxyl groups of COPNA resin improve the heat resistance and adhesive property of COPNA resin. Electric motor brushes with good mechanical properties and low electrical resistivity were successfully prepared by using the modified resin as binder.