New developments to form high‐performance and green organic–inorganic abrasives

Abstract

AbstractOrganic–inorganic composites have important applications, especially in the area of bonded abrasives. They exhibit mechanical performances that cannot be achieved with organic materials alone and present an extremely stable performance, even at elevated temperatures. In this summary of our studies, we focus on the exceptional mechanical properties achieved by incorporating inorganic particles into a crosslinked matrix consisting of phenolic resin. A crosslinker such as hexamethylenetetramine reacts with the phenolic resins to form a stable 3‐dimensional matrix to “glue” the inorganic particles together. In order to achieve such uniform dispersion of the seemingly incompatible reacting components, a plasticizer, or wetting liquid, is usually employed. We have developed several environmentally appropriate wetting liquids that have proved to be superior to the traditionally used toxic substances. Some of the reactive wetting liquids used even enhanced the mechanical properties of the resulting composites by contributing additional crosslinks to the final reacted systems. A combination of techniques including the use of low‐field nuclear magnetic resonance has been used to characterize the curing process and assess the changes in mechanical properties at the molecular level. Detailed studies characterized the effects of moisture on the curing process and changes in mechanical properties.