Furfuryl alcohol/tung oil matrix-based composites reinforced with bacterial cellulose fibres

Wood-Poly(furfuryl Alcohol) Prepreg: A Novel, Ecofriendly Laminate Composite

Prepregs are commonly fabricated with non-renewable petroleum-based materials. To reduce the impact of the manufacturing of these materials and to produce more sustainable prepregs, this research aims to manufacture poly(furfuryl alcohol)/wood veneer prepregs and their posterior molding in laminate composites. For this purpose, the vacuum infusion process was used to impregnate the wood veneers, and compression molding was applied to manufacture three- and four-layer laminate composites. Scanning electronic microscopy was used to evaluate the impregnation. the laminate manufacturing and differential scanning calorimetry were used to predict the shelf-life of the prepregs, Fourier-transform infrared was used to evaluate the induced hydrolysis resistance, and thermogravimetric analysis was used to determine the thermal degradation of the laminates. Moreover, water uptake and flexural, compressive, and tensile properties were evaluated. The kinetic models were effective and showed a shelf life for the laminates of approximately 30 days in storage at -7 °C, which is an interesting result for laminates with lignocellulosic materials. FTIR proved the laminates' excellent resistance to hydrolysis. The water absorption, thermal stability, and mechanical properties did not differ as the amount of wood veneer increased, but these results were up to ~40% higher compared with unidirectional wood laminates found in the literature, which is probably linked to the excellent interface observed with SEM.

Recent advances in the development of green furan ring-containing polymeric materials based on renewable plant biomass

Fossil resources are rapidly depleting, forcing researchers in various fields of chemistry and materials science to switch to the use of renewable sources and the development of corresponding technologies. In this regard, the field of sustainable materials science is experiencing an extraordinary surge of interest in recent times due to the significant advances made in the development of new polymers with desired and controllable properties. This review summarizes important scientific reports in recent times dedicated to the synthesis, construction and computational studies of novel sustainable polymeric materials containing unchanged (pseudo)aromatic furan cores in their structure. Linear polymers for thermoplastics, branched polymers for thermosets and other crosslinked materials are emerging materials to highlight. Various polymer blends and composites based on sustainable polyfurans are also considered as pathways to achieve high-value-added products.

Wood Flour Modified by Poly(furfuryl alcohol) as a Filler in Rigid Polyurethane Foams: Effect on Water Uptake

The use of lignocellulosic fillers in rigid polyurethane foams (RPUFs) has been receiving great attention due to their good mechanical and insulation properties and the high sustainable appeal of the obtained cellular polymers, although high water uptakes are found in most of these systems. To mitigate this detrimental effect, RPUFs filled with wood flour (2.5% wt) were fabricated with the addition of furfuryl alcohol (FA) to create a polymer grafted with the wood filler. Two concentrations of FA (10 wt% and 15 wt%) were investigated in relation to the wood flour, and the RPUFs were characterized for cell morphology, density, compressive properties, thermal stability, and water uptake. The introduction of wood flour as a filler decreased the cell size and increased the anisotropy index of the RPUFs and, in addition to that, the FA grafting increased these effects even more. In general, there were no significant changes in both mechanical and thermal properties ascribed to the incorporation of the fillers. On the other hand, a reduction of up to 200% in water uptake was ascribed to the FA-treated fillers.