Improvement of ablation resistance of phenolic composites reinforced with low concentrations of carbon nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were incorporated into a phenolic resin in order to improve its ablation resistance. The CNT-reinforced phenol composites showed enhanced ablation resistance compared to neat phenolic resin, even with a low concentration of CNTs (0.1 wt%). The proposed mechanism of the CNTs for the CNT/Phenolic resin composite's enhanced ablation resistance is that the CNTs functioning as crystal growth nuclei for graphitization of carbonized phenolic resin. The graphitic structures formed around the CNTs improved the composite's resistance to high temperature ablation. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to identify the proposed CNT reinforcement mechanism for the enhanced ablative resistance of the CNT/Phenolic resin composites.