Resorcinol/Formaldehyde Foam Shell Targets for ICF

Resorcinol/formaldehyde (R/F) low-density foam making processes have been adapted to microencapsulation techniques. This has been done in an effort to make low density, low Z, transparent foam shells for use as cryogenic ICF targets. It was necessary to modify the normal R/F formulation and processing to accelerate the gelation time from tens of hours to less than one hour. Proper selection of the inner and outer oil phase solvents was critical for density matching and prevention of the dehydration of the gelling preform, respectively.