Polymerization of furfuryl alcohol

Uses. Furfuryl alcohol is widely used as a monomer in manufacturing furfuryl alcohol resins, and as a reactive solvent in a variety of synthetic resins and appHcations. Resins derived from furfuryl alcohol are the most important appHcation for furfuryl alcohol in both utihty and volume. The final cross-linked products display outstanding chemical, thermal, and mechanical properties. They are also heat-stable and remarkably resistant to acids, alkaUes, and solvents. Many commercial resins of various compositions and properties have been prepared by polymerization of furfuryl alcohol and other co-reactants such as furfural, formaldehyde, glyoxal, resorcinol, phenoHc compounds and urea. In 1992, domestic furfuryl alcohol consumption was estimated at 47 million pounds (38). 

Oxidation of wood by HNO3 at ambient temperature that results in the formation of carboxylic acid groups on the surface has been substantiated (157). These carboxylic groups are sufficiently acidic to catalyze polymerization of furfuryl alcohol. 

To top off the appeal, the polymerization of furfuryl alcohol can be made to run with almost any partner containing reactive hydrogen. Thus, furfuryl alcohol can be reacted with formaldehyde to give a series of thermosetting resins featuring more methylene bridges than are obtained by the resinification of furfuryl alcohol alone. Such resins are commonly used for the bonding of wood. 

Many efforts have been made to base polymers on furfural made from pentoses.159 The polymers may be useful, but tend to have lower thermal stability than the usual synthetic polymers. Polyesters based on furfural were mentioned earlier. The acid-catalyzed polymerization of furfuryl alcohol is used in foundry cores.160 Furfural has been condensed with cardanol (m-pentadecadienylphenol) from cashew nut shell oil in the presence of other phenols to produce polymeric resins.161 Cardanol and hydrogenated cardanol have been polymerized with horseradish peroxidase to soluble polymers in up to 85% yield.162 Plasticizers that are effective in polyvinyl chloride, such as (12.31), have been made from furfural.163... 

A 400 cpi cordieiite monolith is coated with a polymer made from the polymerization of furfuryl alcohol. The coated cordierite is then heat treated (calcination), and after an activation step the active metal, Pd, is impregnated followed by another heat treatment. One characteristic of the monolith catalyst made this way is its low surface area (13). The hydrogenation of nitrobenzene is used to probe the activity of the monolith catalyst. Table 10 summarizes these results for a series of monolith catalysts. 

Pranger, L.A., Nunnery, G.A., Tannenbaum, R. Mechanism of the nanoparticle-catalyzed polymerization of furfuryl alcohol and the thermal and mechanical properties of the resulting nanocomposites. Compos. B Eng. 43, 1139-1146 (2012)... 

Pranger, L., Tannenhaum, R., 2008. Biobased nanocomposites prepared by in situ polymerization of furfuryl alcohol with cellulose whiskers or MontmoriUonite clay. Macromolecules 41 (22), 8682-8687. 

The reader should be aware that furfuryl alcohol is sensitive to any traces of acidic material. The polymerization of furfuryl alcohol in the presence of an acidic catalyst can become a violent and exothermic reaction. The presence of trace amounts of an acidic material in a bulk quantity of furfuryl alcohol may result in only a slow polymerization reaction, but that can quickly accelerate due to the liberation of the heat of reaction. 

Few examples of nanocomposites in which the cellulosic nanostructure is used in biobased thermosets can be also foimd. Due to the fact that these environment friendly composites suffer from several limitations, such as low mechanical properties due to low strength in reinforcement plus inadequate interfacial strength, and that cellulose nanostructures have been shown to have significant potential as a reinforcement, the possibility of using cellulose nanofibers as reinforcements in a bio-derived resin was revised. In Masoodi et al. [200], cellulose nanofibers were used as reinforcements in the forms of layered films, while in Lee et al. [201] the stability of the gas-soybean oil foam templates and the mechanical properties of the polymer nanocomposite foams are enhanced upon the addition of bacterial cellulose nanofibrils. Other examples of biobased thermosets containing cellulosic nanoreinforcements are the work of Shibata [202] in which the use of a biobased epoxy was revised, and systems in which cellulose nanocrystals are incorporated in biobased polyurethanes [203,204], Few examples exist also in the literature on the polymerization of furfuryl alcohol in presence of CNR [205,206] in these papers, the authors established the feasibility of producing furfuryl... 

Furan resin based binders are prepared by the acid-catalyzed (co)polymerization of furfuryl alcohol, which is obtained by hydrogenation of - furfural, derived of fibrous 1 -products of agricultural production, such as - bagasse, - com, com cobs, oats, wood ( luran derivatives). 

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