文摘
Porous carbon foams were fabricated using phenol and formaldehyde (PF) as carbon precursors. The pore size and porosity of the foams were controlled using glycol-derivatives as porogen during condensation polymerization. The morphology of the resulting carbon foam with macroporous porosity and well dispersed pore structures were verified by mercury porosimetry and scanning electron microscopy. The compressive stress of the resulting carbon foam increased with increasing molecular weights of glycol-derivatives due to the decrease in porosity. Furthermore, the reaction mechanism was identified to involve glycol-derivatives in the condensation reaction of PF, which generated the porosity of the resulting carbon foam by releasing volatile compounds according to thermogravimetric analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. As a result, the mechanical properites of the carbon foam could be affected by the morphological properties of macroporous structures using different types and concentrations of glycol-derivatives.