Thermal and combustion behavior of furan resin/silica nanocomposites

• Furan resin is a bio-based thermosetting polymer with excellent thermal and combustion behavior.
• Silica nanoparticles can further improve the thermal and combustion behavior of the furan resin.
• A detailed description of the thermal degradation mechanism of the furan resin is proposed.

In this paper, we report the development of furan resin nanocomposites, filled with silica nanoparticles. In order to have a dispersion procedure, which could be easily up-scalable to the industrial level, a commercially available water-based suspension of silica particles was used. This was possible thanks to the fact that water is a good solvent of furan resin. Different treatments with silanes were performed in order to improve the interaction between the silica particles and the furan matrix. As a result, the thermal oxidative resistance of the furan resin is improved with also a minor improvement of fire reaction, which is already quite substantial in the pristine resin.

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