Novel Novolac Phenolic Polymeric Network of Chalcones: Synthesis, Characterization, and Thermal–Electrical Conductivity Investigation

A series of novolac phenolic polymeric networks (NPPN) were prepared via an acid-catalyzed polycondensation reaction of formaldehyde with chalcones possessing a p-phenolic OH group. When p-hydroxybenzaldehyde was treated with formaldehyde under the same conditions, a phenolic polymer (PP) was obtained. The resulting polymers were isolated in excellent yields (83–98%). Isolated polymers (NPPN, PP) were characterized using FTIR, TGA, and XRD. The results obtained from the TGA revealed that all prepared phenolic polymers have high thermal stability at high temperatures and can act as thermosetting materials. XRD data analysis showed a high degree of amorphousness for all polymers (78.8%–89.2%). The electrical conductivities and resistivities of all chalcone-based phenolic networks (NPPN) and p-hydroxybenzaldehyde polymer (PP) were also determined. The physical characteristics obtained from the I-V curve showed that the conductivity of phenolic polymers has a wide range from ultimately negligible values of 0.09 µS/cm up to 2.97 μS/cm. The degree of polarization of the conjugated system’s carbonyl group was attributed to high, low, or even no conductivity for all phenolic polymers since the electronic effects (inductive and mesomeric) could impact the polarization of the carbonyl group and, consequently, change the degree of the charge separation to show varied conductivity values.