Interpenetrating polymer networks of polyurethane and furfuryl alcohol,IIa. Processability and properties of pultruded fiber-reinforced composites

A feasibility study of pultrusion of fiber-reinforced polyurethane/furfuryl alcohol (PU/FA) interpenetrating polymer/network IPN composites has been made. From the viscosity study, it was found that the pot life of the PU/FA IPN prepolymers increased with PU content and showed high reactivity at elevated temperature. It was confirmed from the morphological study that the wetting of fibers by the PU/FA IPN resins was improved with PU content. The appearance of the tensile failure surfaces of the pultruded glass fiber-reinforced PU/FA IPN composites showed “hackle patterns” for PU contents below 15 phr. The mechanical property study shows that the tensile strength of pultruded PU/FA IPN composites is the highest when the PU content is 5 phr. However, the flexural strength, flexural modulus and HDT decreased with PU content. The mechanical properties of various fiber-reinforced (glass, carbon, and Kevlar 49 aramid fiber) pultruded PU/FA IPN composites increased with fiber volume content.