Grant: Engage Grants Program

Polymers used in the making of moulds for the foundry industry must be low cost and extremely thermally tolerant; molten metal ispoured into the sand-based moulds containing these polymers. The traditional polymers used in these applications are formedfrom a reaction between phenol and formaldehyde. Although the resulting polymer has the required strength and thermal tolerancedemanded by the final application, there is a great deal of toxicity associated with formaldehyde raw material. It is, therefore, ofinterest to explore alternatives to formaldehyde in the production of polymers for the foundry industry. We are proposing toincorporate silicon-based species into the polymers in place of the formaldehyde. The resulting polymers should have the samethermal tolerance as the formaldehyde containing systems, will be compatible with the sand in the moulds (as sand is based onsilicon), and will have the added advantage of employing a raw material that is less toxic and more environmentally benign thanformaldehyde.