Bisphenols and phenol resins were decomposed in tetralin, typically, at 430°C. Thermal reactivity was discussed based on their chemical structures. Typically, an ortho-substituted methylene group of phenolic nuclei was cleaved easier than a para-substituted methylene group. Bisphenol-A-containing novolac and cured resins were prepared and examined in thermal reactivity and physical property. Thermal cracking of a cured bisphenol-A-formaldehyde resin gave the large yield of monomers compared to the total monomer yield in the cracking of a cured phenol-formaldehyde resin.

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Interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) beads composed of poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) (PHEMA) or poly (2-acetoxyethyl methacrylate) (PAEMA) and polystyrene (PS), with diameter of 300-500μm, were prepared via two-stage suspension polymerization, and thermal stability of these IPN beads were investigated using thermogravimetric analysis. It was found that the formation of IPN structure with high PS content enhanced the thermal stability of PAE and PHEMA. The IPNs obtained with lightly cross-linked seed polymers exhibited higher thermal stability. The morphology of the IPNs was examined by transmission electron microscopy and the thermal stability was attributed to the more interpenetrating molecules in the inter-phase region of the two components.

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