Biopolymers

Green composites have recently attracted attention due to its derivation from renewable plant resources. The dwindling of the fossil resources has increased an interest in developing renewable materials such as PLA or other biodegradabule ones, however in general these materials shows low mechanical properties. From this point of view, natural fiber reinforced plastics (NFRPs) with green polymer matrix are recognized as an alternative for synthetic materials. Furan resin made from corn cob or other vegetable resources is one of the renewable biobased thermosets which shows no biodegradability but has a higher resistance to chemical and heat than the other plant-derived thermoplastics. Intoroduceing fran resin as a matrix, long-life durability and high mechanical performance can be expected. However because of this resin is very brittle and curing mechanism has not been cleared, it is difficult to cure as a composite matrix resin. Since in previous research it was suggested that this resin needed oxygen in cureing process, hydrogen peroxide was added to improve curing behavior, but the desirable mechanical performance was not accomplished. In additon, through curing reaction and interfacial chemical bonding analysis, an approach to increase the strength and toughness of furan resin was tried. From revision of temperature and time on curing process, average flexural strength was improved to 280 MPa and average elastic modulus was improved to 25 GPa. Furthermore, adding salicylaldehyde as a cupling agents allowed 310 MPa of flexural strength and 27.5 GPa of elastic modulus.