Synthesis and Characterization of Resorcinol Formaldehyde Aerogel-Multi wall Carbon Nanotubes Composite

In this research work RF Resorcinol formaldehyde (RF) aerogels were synthesized by sol gel method. Using various analyzes such as scanning electron microscope (SEM) and mechanical tests the optimum conditions for composite were obtained. Three samples were prepared in the presence of three different catalysts with R/C molar ratio of 50, 100 and 200. Among them Na2C 3 was the best catalyst with the least shrinkage of 31.87% and low density of 0.6317 g/cm3. Catalyst (C) respectively and the porosity of samples were investigated by SEM images. Furthermore, to find out the effect of catalyst, two other samples at a fixed ratio of R/C=100 and at the presence of NaHCO3 and K2CO3 as catalysts were synthesized. It was found that addition of multi wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) at room temperature to the RF aerogels lead to more shrinkage 46.87%), low density of 0.492 g/cm3 and enhanced mechanical properties with the a Young's module in the order of 300.