Structure and properties of poly(furfuryl alcohol)-tannin polyHIPEs

• The 1st polyHIPEs derived from co-reacted tannin and furfuryl alcohol are presented.
• The choice of a highly volatile internal phase avoided the usual, quite long, leaching steps.
• The final porous structure was tuned through the amount of surfactant in the emulsion.
• All materials were good thermal insulators due to their very low pore sizes.
• The highest mechanical properties ever reported for this kind of material were measured.

The synthesis and the properties of the first polymerised High Internal Phase Emulsions (polyHIPEs) derived from co-reacted tannin and furfuryl alcohol resin, are reported in this paper. Such highly porous thermoset polymers were obtained by emulsion-templating in the form of strong monoliths, using 70 vol% of cyclohexane as the internal phase. The volatility of the latter made the preparation process very simple, not requiring the usual long washing steps encountered in the synthesis of most polyHIPEs. The structure of these new materials was investigated by different techniques as a function of the amount of surfactant in the initial formulation. The pore sizes exhibited clear trends that were explained. The materials were found to be interesting thermal insulators whereas presenting outstanding mechanical properties, among the highest ever reported for porous polymers.

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