Phenol → Formaldehyde

Participants

Reaction Steps

This example also demonstrates that phenol will gel a polyacrylamide relatively quickly. A solution of the xanthan biopolymer, Flocon®4800, (2000 ppm), Phillips HE-B® (5000 ppm), phenol (1000 ppm), formaldehyde (1900 ppm), CrCl3 (100 ppm Cr) was prepared in synthetic sea water. Sodium hydroxide (1N) was used to adjust the pH to 5.85. The composition so prepared gelled in one hour, presumably from the interaction of Cr with the Flocon® biopolymer. This blend was left to fully crosslink overnight, then liquefied in a Waring blender for 30 seconds and placed in an ampoule. The ampoule was then stored at 210° F. An elastic gel was formed between 6 and 22 hours. Three weeks later, the gel was observed to still be firm, with <5% syneresis.

Provenance & Evidence