Preparation of Melamine Formaldehyde Foam and a Melamine-Formaldehyde-Organo-Clay Nanocomposite and Hybrid Composites

Mineral fillers can be added to thermoset polymers to improve thermal conductivity and deformation behavior, shrinkage, impact strength, dimensional stability and molding cycle time. This study aims to prepare various hybrid composites (MFHCs) using melamine formaldehyde foam (MF), a melamine formaldehyde organo-clay nanocomposite (MFNC) and also pumice as primary filler, and gypsum, kaolinite and a hollow glass sphere as secondary filler. It also focuses on the study of some mechanical properties and thermal conductivities, as well as their microscopic and spectroscopic characterization. For this, firstly, organo-clay was prepared with the solution intercalation method using montmorillonite, a cationic surfactant and long-chain hydrocarbon material, and then was produced using a melamine formaldehyde nanocomposite with in situ synthesis using a melamine formaldehyde pre-polymer and organo-clay. Finally, hybrid composites were prepared by blending various minerals and the produced nanocomposite. For morphological and textural characterization, both FTIR spectroscopy and XRD spectra, as well as SEM and HRTEM images of the raw montmorillonite (MMT), organo-montmorillonite (OMMT), pure polymer (MF) and prepared hybrid composites, were used. Spectroscopic and microscopic analyses have shown that materials with different textural arrangements and properties are obtained depending on effective adhesion interactions between polymer–clay nanocomposite particles and filler grains. Mechanical and thermal conductivity test results showed that melamine-formaldehyde-organo-clay nanocomposite foam (MFCNC) exhibited a very good thermal insulation performance despite its weak mechanical strength (λ: 0.0640 W/m K). On the other hand, among hybrid composites, it has been determined that the hybrid composite containing hollow glass beads (MFCPHHC) is a material with superior properties in terms of thermal insulation and mechanical strength (λ: 0.642 W/m K, bulk density: 0.36 g/cm3, bending strength: 228.41 Mpa, modulus of elasticity: 2.22 Mpa and screw holding resistance: 3.59 N/mm2).